The Letters
by PLL1993
Summary: Alison Dilaurentis is enjoying her life, as usual. As queen bee of Rosewood, every day seems perfect. No one suspects that deep down, Ali is struggling to cope with a secret romance that consumed her past.
1. Mona's Letter

"Alison, is this really necessary?"

"Come on Spence, chill out ok? She's never going to know."

Alison continued making her way closer and closer to Mona Vanderwaal's house. Given the gorgeous exterior, complete with cobblestone walk way and professional gardening maintenance, it was hard to believe that someone as dorky as Mona lived here. Ali drifted into an alternate reality momentarily where Mona could actually be the perfect comrade. Of course, this dream was quickly crushed when reality regained its grip on her as she caught a clueless Mona dancing around in her living room window, shaking a wii remote furiously while playing Just Dance.

"Pathetic…" Alison scoffed.

The four girls followed her lead, shaking with a mix of apprehension and chills. Ali on the other hand continued slyly up the pathway, ducking behind the perfectly manicured shrubs until she reached the front doorstep.

"Ali, what if she finds out it's us?" a nervous Hanna asked, pulling her coat tighter around her, looking about the lawn as if she feared someone was watching them.

"Don't worry Hanna. There's no food involved so I'm sure she won't suspect you."

Hanna looked down dejectedly. None of the friends dare comfort her for fear of Alison's bitter retaliation, so silence lingered for a few moments.

Ali, unaware or uncaring of Hanna's shattered self-esteem, peered over a bush to make sure Mona was still preoccupied with her game. Of course she was.

Suddenly, her infamous smirk graced her face. It was the smirk the girls always identified as an omen that Alison was about to begin some sort of dirty work. Even though they all knew it was wrong and cruel, none of them spoke up.

Ali pulled the letter out of her back pocket with a swift tug and unfolded it.

"Oh Em," she called mischievously.

Emily's heart pounded, as it often did when Alison directly spoke to her.

"Y-yes," Emily managed to stumble.

"Be a doll and bring that flashlight over here, will ya?"

Emily slowly made her way to Alison with the flashlight. Suddenly, Emily's mind fluttered with possibilities; possibilities she knew were naïve but couldn't help. Like the fact that Aria also had a flashlight but Ali chose to request Emily instead. Emily couldn't help but allow herself to believe that Alison did so on purpose because she wanted to be close to her.

"A little closer," Alison beckoned. "I don't bite," she teased, scrunching her nose.

Emily gave an apprehensive smile and obeyed her fearless leader. She came as close as she could to Alison, overjoyed by the fact that there shoulders were touching as Emily faced the flashlight towards the paper in Ali's hand. Emily's heart fluttered as she noticed Ali moved closer to her. She knew it was probably just for the light, but it still made her jump.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked, clearly growing more and more agitated. Alison gave her a glare to warn her she was coming awfully close to pushing her to the edge of annoyance. She then peered back down to the note.

"I'm just checking to make sure there aren't any mistakes. How embarrassing would that be? Then again, I guess we all make mistakes…right Spencer?" Spencer's eyes narrowed under the indirect insult that the other girls seemed not to notice.

"Nope, perfect." Alison said, lifting her head with her smile; the kind of smile that only Alison had. The smile that seemed to say "I'm Alison Dilaurentis, and I am fabulous."

Alison then refolded the letter. She seemed to be waiting for something, so they all stood, waiting with her.

"Um, a little close there Em, aren't you?" Alison finally said, raising an eyebrow at Emily. Emily took a step sideways, awkwardly putting a loose hair behind her ear.

"Sorry." She whispered, nearly inaudibly. Alison didn't seem to notice, and made her way to the front porch.

"Wait," said Aria. Alison rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"What if her parents are home?"

"They're not. Ok? I'm not that stupid. Her parents are out Aria. They're probably out _together _too, which is more than can be said for…"

"Alison, please!" Aria said, her voice a mixture of desperation and resentment.

Alison smiled again, knowing very well she had won. She went back to the task at hand.

She bit her lip. This was her favorite part. The pure adrenalin she felt right before she committed the act.

She placed the letter on the doorstep, clearly visible and impossible to miss.

"Are you ready?" She whispered fearlessly over her shoulder, her smirk plastered on her face once more.

Before they could respond, Ali knocked on the front door. They immediately heard the Katy Perry song that had been playing on the wii pause.

Alison laughed and raced down the steps and out of sight. The girls followed suit, hiding behind the shrubs. Aria and Emily switched off their flashlights, trying to contain the nervous breaths echoing inside them.

All eyes were on the front door, except for Spencer's, which eyed Alison with intense anger. Like usual, Spencer found herself questioning exactly why she was friends with this monster anyway. And like usual, she couldn't really find a good enough answer. But as always, she never looked into it much further and her eyes too darted up to the door as it opened and Mona stepped out.

Alison could barely stifle her laughter as Mona clenched her arms, overcome by chill. She was wearing a blue turtleneck with baggy green pajamas with little puppy dog faces all over them. Aria also noticed she wore some very unique rabbit slippers that she actually found to be kind of cute and was almost certain she had the same brand of slipper at her house, only frogs instead of rabbits. Of course, she'd never let Alison get a hold of that secret.

"Hello?" Mona called sheepishly into the darkness. Of course, no one replied. That's when she looked down and noticed the letter. At first, a slight smile appeared over her face.

That's when Emily started to feel slightly guilty. Poor Mona actually believed the letter was going to hold something good inside of it. She probably thought it was secret note from a shy admirer, or an invitation to a classy party. Emily knew once she read it, all of her hopes would vanish though.

She was right. Mona unfolded the letter and her eager smile faded into a frown. They watched as her eyes scanned every line of it until they reached the bottom. She then peered over top of it and momentarily inspected the yard with a nervous, hurt expression.

Hanna didn't know whether or not Mona had any idea who wrote the letter. She did know, however, that had the same thing happened to her and had it been Hanna Alison and her friends were watching instead of Mona, she'd have a pretty good idea who would be cruel enough to set up such a prank. Still, what could she do? The damage was done and Alison was quite content with herself.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Mona backed up into her house and shut the door behind her. Alison continued watching though, noticing that Mona pulled the blinds shut to her living room to keep out any wandering eyes. With that, Alison knew the game was over…for now.

"Well," she said, turning to her posse and snatching the flashlight from Aria. "I'm starving. Let's go eat." And with that, the deed was done. Alison brushed past the four girls who watched in a temporary daze as Alison made her way boldly down to the street, not caring enough to stay off of the perfectly upheld yard, stomping defiantly through the grass.

One by one, the others followed her. It would be so simple to split off, to run away in the opposite direction and not follow her. Yet, although each of them thought it, not one of them strayed from the footprints Ali had made ahead of them.


	2. Watch it Spence

"Alison, what exactly did that note say?" Spencer finally gathered enough courage to ask what all of them had been wondering. She was a bit apprehensive that Ali's reaction may be less than accepting to the question, but she felt she had a right to know, being as she was as involved as Ali.

Alison didn't react as bitterly as Spencer expected though. She was actually quite calm, as if the whole ordeal had taken place months ago instead of one mere hour. Alison shrugged as she fetched some nachos out of the microwave. She picked a piece of cheese off of one and licked it off her finger before answering. Then, she placed the plate down on the kitchen counter where Aria, Hanna and Emily were sitting in stools. Spencer stayed leaning against another counter though, her arms crossed.

"It's not important Spence. It was just a few little lies, nothing crazy."

"Ali, just tell us. Were as involved in this as you are so if we're every confronted about it, I'd kind of like to be able to defend myself in a way a bit classier than 'I don't know.'"

Alison turned away from the plate of nachos and narrowed her eyes at Spencer.

"Does it really matter? All of you are so smart, that's why you're my friends. If anything we ever do comes back around to us, I know you can fix it. I trust you guys."

Leave it to Alison to find a way to ease anger and replace it with shame for ever being foolish enough to ask.

The answer was satisfactory it appeared for the other girls, as they dove back into their late night snack, but Spencer didn't feel at all reassured. She felt she had to force it out of her.

"If you trust us so much, you should be able to tell us what was in that note," Spencer countered, tightening her arms against her chest as if they were armor against Alison's inevitable retaliation.

As Alison turned around and made her way to Spencer, the other girls' eyes shot up from the nachos and watched nervously. Alison stopped just short of Spencer's ear and a twinge of unsteadiness burrowed through Spencer.

Every so softly, Alison whispered "Don't make me regret letting you into this group. You were nothing without me, and it's very, very easy, to go back to that." She backed away, smirking with an evil glare in her eye. Spencer wasn't dumb enough to say anything else. If Alison was right about anything, it was that. As much as Alison got on her nerves and made her uneasy with all her secrets, Spencer knew going back to pre-Alison life would be unbearable, especially now since instead of ignoring her, Ali would find a way to personally and viciously target her and make her miserable. So Spencer stood, saying nothing and swallowing hard. As much as she pretended to be tough, Ali easily saw right through it and was well aware that Spencer was still under her control.

The situation taken care of, Alison turned and made her way back to the nachos. Aria, Emily and Hanna quickly darted their eyesight back to the plate, pretending as if they weren't intently watching the entire scene.

"Listen girls," Ali finally said a few minutes later. "I would never do anything that would hurt you guys." She picked up a nacho and dipped it fiercely into some extra cheese and then held it in her hand before adding "You guys trust me, don't you?" She then smiled and took a bite of it with a crunch.

None of them denied it, but still, only silence answered her.


	3. Em's Perfect Night

The Dilaurentis' living room always made Emily somewhat uncomfortable, although she could never figure out exactly why. She loved the way it smelled like Ali; a blend of freshness and vanilla that massaged her nose. She loved how she could hear the antique grandfather clock steadily, rhythmically ticking in the hallway, like a soothing lullaby. And she especially loved how the room was spread out enough that she could see all of her friends, so she never felt alone. So she was often confused when an unsettling feeling encompassed her while she lay down, awaiting sleep to come long after the others had already drifted away. Maybe it was because the room was _too _perfect and it only reminded her more and more of how unreachable Alison was, being as she too was the epitome of perfection.

Before she had time to think on it more, a hand on her shoulder startled her. She looked up and saw Spencer kneeling over her. Emily hoped she hadn't noticed that she was propped on her side specifically so she could watch Alison. She flipped over quickly to face Spencer. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Spencer licked her lips and looked over Emily towards Alison, noticing she hadn't been awakened. She then bent down closer to Emily.

"Em, you were right next to Alison when she read that note tonight. You had to have seen what it said."

Emily suddenly felt uncomfortable, like somehow Alison's sleeping form would immediately come to life when it heard the mention of the note.

"No, I didn't." Emily quivered out, playing with a thread that was loose in her blanket.

"C'mon Em. I know you're nervous because Alison didn't want to talk about it, but you can tell me. There's no reason for us not to know."

Even though Emily completely disagreed with that, had she actually known what was in the note, she probably would've offered it freely to Spencer. But, truth be told, she really had no idea.

She flashbacked to that exact moment in time when Alison had called her over with the flashlight. She was in heaven, standing so close to Ali, the light illuminating her perfect hands as they unfolded the letter. She was way too preoccupied with the fact that her shoulder was grazing Ali's too actually focus on the written words.

"Spencer, I really don't know. I didn't read it."

"You mean you didn't see anything? At all?"

Emily shook her head. Suddenly, she felt useless and stupid. No wonder Alison called her over with the light instead of Aria; Alison knew Emily wouldn't dare overstep her boundaries with Ali and read it. Of course she knew exactly what she was doing. Alison always knew exactly what she was doing and Emily felt stupid not realizing it sooner. It was really just all a game for her.

"I'm sorry Spence." Emily finally said, throwing a sideways glance towards Ali, a little upset at the fact she didn't recognize Alison's specialized plan earlier.

Hearing the sincerity in Emily's voice, Spencer exhaled and backed away to her own sleeping bag. "It's ok. I believe you."

Emily all of a sudden felt regret in herself for not seizing the opportunity and reading the note. She was mad she had let her emotions blind her from the perfect chance to solve a mystery she knew would now be eating at her and the others. How could Ali be so wicked? How could she be so clever? Why did she know her so well?

Once Spencer was tucked back into her sleeping bag, most likely consumed with her own thoughts and theories once again, Emily turned to her side to catch another glimpse of Alison.

There she was, just as she was before, completely unaware of the conversation they just had and completely unaware of the constant torment she inflicts on Emily. Emily suddenly wanted answers. She felt tears swell in her throat and couldn't explain exactly why, but decided Alison owed it to her, especially her, the honest truth.

She crept out from under her blanket and went over to Alison, ready to violently shove her awake if that's what it would take. But as she approached her, her anger all but vanished completely. Instead of being upset and furious, she felt confused and hurt. All she wanted was for Ali to trust her, to love her as much as she loved Ali.

She sat there, her tears filling in her eyes but not falling, looking down at Ali's perfect face. Even when she was asleep, she had a confidence about her, like she knew even when she wasn't awake, she was better than everyone else. Emily hadn't expected it at all when Alison's eyes opened. Even when awakened abruptly, Ali showed no signs of fear. She was in complete control still.

"Em, what are you doing?" She asked, not seeming to be completely ok with how close Emily was. Emily was more startled than her and rubbed her sniffling nose.

"I was just…" Emily didn't know exactly what to say because she didn't know exactly what she _was _doing. So she trailed off and averted Ali's inquiring gaze.

"Are you scared or something?" Ali asked, raising an eyebrow.

Emily didn't answer and wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. But to her shock, she felt something on her knee as she was kneeling. She looked down to see Ali's hand.

"There's nothing to be scared of Em. Not as long as I'm here." Then Ali smiled and whispered, "I'll protect you."

All of Emily's confusion, anger, sadness and every other emotion she felt just melted away with Ali's words. The only thing left was complete and total unwavering love. Even though deep down, she knew Ali was just saying what she knew she wanted to hear, she didn't mind.

Ali patted the carpet next her, indicating that Emily should lay down. She wiped away all of her doubt and laid down next to Ali, who propped herself up on her side and began stroking her hair.

"You really are the prettiest you know." Ali said as Emily's eyes started to close, lost in complete bliss.

"You're the only one I can really trust, aren't you?" With that, Emily turned her head towards Ali, who slowly removed her hand from Emily's hair. Emily didn't know what to say. Of course that's what she wanted to believe, that Ali trusted her the most and loved her the most, but could she really deem it truthful? After all, Ali was the best she knew at lying.

Before Emily could answer, she heard her own heart beating in her ear as Ali's lips came down on her own. They were soft and gentle and everything Emily imagined. The moment was so surreal that Emily had to remind herself several times it was actually really happening. Then Alison broke away. Her blue eyes peered into Emily's intensely and her lips curled up into her trademark grin.

"I love you Alison." Emily said it so fast that she barely had time to register that she said it. She bit her lip and looked at Alison, awaiting a reply. She desperately hoped Ali would announce her undying love for her too and dive back in for a passionate kiss, but all she got was a slight stroke of her hair.

"Of course you do." Ali said confidently, still smiling, as if reciting a well known fact. She looked at Emily for a few seconds longer, tucking some more strands of hair behind her ear. Then, she lay back down and turned away from Emily, almost immediately falling back asleep, using her back as shield from Emily's gaze.

And with that, the heavenly instant was over and the darkness of the living room swelled around her, leaving her alone to relive the moment in her head and question if it had even really happened at all.


	4. Rise and Shine Bitches Time to Play

"C'mon girls. Time to rise and shine."

Aria rubbed her eyes and sat up, trying to adjust them to the piercing light flooding through the front window.

Hanna pulled out her cell phone and groaned, pulling her pillow tightly over her face. "Ali, it's only 8 and it's a Saturday." She mumbled through it. "Why do we have to get up so early?"

"Hmm," Alison pretended to muse, "It's funny. I thought you'd be the one eager to get up, seeing as breakfast is already made."

Hanna quickly removed the pillow from her face, fearful that the other girls had heard the cruel blow against her, but was relieved to see none of them were paying attention but rather focused on their own lack of desire to arise.

"So, we're getting up this early why?" Spencer asked, sitting up against the sofa.

"Well if you guys would hurry your asses up and come over here, maybe I'd tell you."

Alison turned on her heel and headed back into the kitchen. The four girls heard silverware and dishes clattering and they gave each other inquisitive looks. Emily was the first to rise and the others soon followed, coming into the dining room in a clump. They suddenly noticed the heavenly smell of eggs, pancakes and bacon.

Ali made a gesture with a rather large knife to the dining room table, indicating they should all sit; so they did.

The table was set with a place for each of them, and most of the food was already laid out except for the plate of pancakes which Alison walked over herself. She placed them on the table then sat at the head.

Everyone stared at each other in confusion. Alison had never, ever done anything like this before and it may very well be the last thing they expected Alison to ever do, aside from maybe admitting she was wrong.

"Well dig in guys." Alison commanded, taking a sip of orange juice. Spencer knew something strange was going on. Alison was far from the "make breakfast just because" kind.

Emily was the first to take a piece of food and Spencer nearly expected her to fall out of her chair, taken over with some sort of poison as Ali sat by and laughed maniacally. But, that didn't happen. Instead, one by one, each of them took a bit of everything, and Spencer was surprised to taste how good it was.

Ali nibbled on a piece of bacon, eyeing each girl individually, slowly surveying each of them with her ocean blue eyes.

"So what's the occasion?" Aria finally asked, after each of them had eaten quite a bit.

"Do I need an occasion to do something special for my best friends?" Ali smiled, winking. Emily almost choked on her orange juice, noting that it was directed towards her.

"I don't know, do you?" Spencer asked again, stronger.

"I just thought you guys should be well energized for today, that's all." Alison said.

"Well energized for what?" Asked Aria.

"God, you guys are full of questions this morning. You know, you really need to just learn to trust me. You'll know soon enough."

There was an awkward silence over the table, well, awkward for everyone but Alison. Alison never felt awkward. She caused awkwardness and she loved it, but she never experienced it.

She reached over to Emily and picked up her wrist, looking at her watch.

"8:30 already. You guys better hurry up and get ready or we're going to be late." It was then they all noticed Alison was already dressed and made up into her gorgeous self. She stood and headed towards the kitchen.

Being courteous, Hanna picked up her plate and glasses, planning to take them to the kitchen sink.

"Oh, no." said Alison, shaking her head. "There's no need for that. Jason will take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Hanna asked.

"Yes, Hanna, I'm sure." Alison said bitterly. Ali was not one who enjoyed having to repeat herself. When she said jump, she expected people to only say "how high?"

Hanna put her things back on the table and straightened her top of her stomach, suddenly feeling conscious under Alison's eyes that the breakfast had made her gain ten pounds.

"Why would Jason clean up after us?" Spencer asked.

"Because he owes me. Ok?" Seeing that all of her friends were eyeing her suspiciously, Alison rolled her eyes.

"Let's just say his party last weekend got a little out of hand and…well, I took care of it. So now he owes me."

"So typically Ali," Spencer thought. "Do something nice, get something in return." There was no such thing as a good deed without reward in Alison's book. Which was why Spencer was a bit concerned as to what Alison would expect from them now that she "so graciously" made them breakfast.

"Now, go get dressed and meet me back here. You have five minutes." And with that, Ali strutted into the living room leaving four very confused friends alone in the dining room.


	5. How About some Coffee?

"It's about time," Ali said as she tapped her foot impatiently, sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

The four girls came down from the upstairs all in a row, straightening out their outfits and running their fingers through their hair; basically doing last minute touch ups before they presented themselves to Alison.

When they entered, they stood in a line, as if they were preparing for a high detailed inspection.

Alison got up from her position on the couch and smiled.

"Aw," she cooed, gently touching Emily's shoulder but speaking to all of them. "Don't you all just look wonderful?"

A compliment from Alison Dilaurentis, however generalized it was, was like a golden light was shining down from heaven upon you. It was the ultimate compliment you could ever receive, and all the girls stood a little taller and prouder after she said it.

Of course, what Alison giveth, Alison taketh away.

"Then again, there's always room for improvement. I mean, none of us are perfect, are we?"

They all knew much better than to answer that question. They were all very much aware that Alison was as close to perfect as anyone could be and even if she weren't, saying so would be a death wish.

Alison looked into the mirror above the fireplace and whisked her hair with her hand, sending the familiar scent of Vanilla through the air. She smiled at her reflection and then glanced at the others' reflections. None of them were looking at her. All of them had their eyes nervously averting her countenance, looking desperately around the room for something to focus on. She loved it. She had them all so under her spell. She decided to have a bit of fun before they made their way to the coffee shop.

"Emily," Ali called over her shoulder, watching Emily's eyes lift up through the mirror. She stay turned towards it, watching Emily's every move.

"Can you come here for a sec?"

Emily bit her lip and brushed her hair behind her ear. She came up to Ali and they looked at each other through the reflection in the mirror.

"Tell me," Ali's reflection said to Emily's, "Does this top look better over my shoulder," she said, holding the wide collar tightly against her collarbone, "or off?" She then firmly, yet slowly, pulled it down over her shoulder, exposing her pink bra strap. She noticed how Emily gasped and she smiled.

"No need to blush Em, it's just a question." Ali watched her reflection still, loving how in control she was. Loving how Emily couldn't help but bite her lip and watch her shoulder longingly.

"Off. Definitely." Emily finally managed to say, clearing her throat, unable to meet Ali's gaze. Ali then decided to have a bit more fun, looking from the mirror from the first time and staring directly at Emily.

Emily shivered as Ali leaned in close to her ear. She could feel Ali's warm breath as she whispered, "I agree." Then, Ali looked back into the mirror and smiled at Emily's reflection, raising a playful eyebrow. Emily smiled at the mirror too.

Emily wondered if Ali was thinking about the kiss like she was. Ever since she woke up this morning, her thoughts replayed the kiss in slow motion and her heart desperately pleaded for another one. She thought maybe this was the opportunity she had been waiting for, but realized she was foolish for thinking Ali would ever attempt something like that in front of the others.

Ali turned away from the mirror and looked at the others who had all pulled out their cell phones, clearly not knowing what else to do.

"Well, are you guys ready?" With the sound of her voice, they all simultaneously put their cell phones away and awaited instructions.

"Where are we going?" Asked Aria.

"It's a surprise." Alison smirked and gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

* * *

><p>"Spencer," Alison said. "Don't forget, I get two creamers in my coffee."<p>

"How could I…?" Spencer thought to herself in agitation.

She politely smiled and walked over to the counter to order.

Hanna, Emily and Aria sat at the small table at the coffee shop that they had unofficially claimed as their own. If someone was sitting there and saw the posse moving in, there was hell to pay if they didn't get up and move.

Even though she had just eaten an hour or so ago, Hanna couldn't help but scan over the menu hanging above the counter. She heard Alison sigh. "Spencer," Alison called. "You may want to grab some extra napkins. Looks like Hefty Hanna is gonna' start drooling."

Hanna removed her eyes immediately from the board and stared at the table. Alison simply inspected her fingernails.

"Ali, do you have to be so mean?" Aria asked, feeling bad for Hanna.

"Relax Aria, Hanna knows I'm just kidding. Don't you Hanna?" Alison looked at Hanna with a glint in her eye that seemed to say "be careful how you answer this one."

"Of course." Hanna lied, smiling slightly herself.

"See? So stop being so sensitive." Alison more or less commanded.

As Spencer returned with the orders of coffee, the bell on the door rattled. They all looked up to see Lucas step in.

"Since when does Lucas hang out here?" Spencer thought out loud.

"Since I told him to." Alison sneered as she grabbed her coffee from Spencer. Thoroughly confused, Spencer was about to request a bit more clarification, but didn't have a chance to before Alison chimed back in.

"He would be early though, wouldn't he?" She scoffed, checking the clock hanging on the wall. "It figures. That's what you get with a desperate dork like him."

"Alison, what exactly is going on…?" Aria began. Lucas took a seat near the window, peering out of the sides of his eyes at the group of queen bees, clearly feeling awkward with them so nearby.

"Just wait. Thing 2 ought to be showing up any minute now." Alison said, taking a careful sip of her coffee. Then, as if on cue, the door rattled again. Alison's smirk returned even though she didn't even look at the entryway. Somehow, she already knew who had just walked in.


	6. Mona vs Ali

Mona made her way to the table near the window, clearly distraught over something. Lucas arose with a smile and pulled out the chair opposite him.

"Hey." He greeted her, in his sweet Lucas-like way.

Mona didn't answer. She simply smiled and accepted the seat.

Lucas was either incredibly oblivious or choosing not to notice how strange Mona was acting. She clearly wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Spencer." Ali abruptly barked in a harsh whisper.

"If your staring becomes anymore obvious, people might begin to mistake you for a painting." Spencer's eyes soared away from Lucas and Mona, bitterly realizing that Alison was in fact right.

"Sorry, it's just…" Spencer shook her head, completely perplexed at the scene she was witnessing.

"It's just what?" Alison demanded impatiently.

"It's just, I don't understand why Lucas and Mona are…here…together."

"Honestly Spence." Alison laughed. "I thought you were the brightest. I figured at least _you _would figure it out."

When Ali was greeted with only more bewildered eyes from the girls surrounding her, she proceeded.

"Isn't it obvious?" She gestured towards Lucas and Mona with a sweep of her fragile hand. She sighed, noting that not one of her friends understood yet.

"Hermie found himself a gal pal, ok? God, do I have to draw you guys a picture?"

Suddenly, the light bulb flashed on in the posses head. Their mouths fell agape and their eyes swooped back over to the two seemingly innocent teenagers in the corner.

"Are you serious? Since when?" Aria asked.

Alison was the only one still bothering to play it cool, her eyes looking down at her coffee as she stirred it ever so slightly, grinning into it as if it were exchanging a secret with her.

"That's not important Aria. What's important is that it's all over now."

"I don't know Ali," Hanna chimed in, seeing how Lucas's face remained lit up as he spoke to Mona. "They look pretty happy to me."

"It's easy to _look _happy." Ali said. Then her lips curled down into a frown, for only the slightest second and she added, sourly "It's much harder to actually feel it."

Noting the tartness in Ali's voice, the four turned their attention back to her, curious as to what that statement means exactly. Such a thing couldn't possibly hold any relevance to Ali….right?

"Maybe you should try looking a little closer." Ali suggested.

Emily longed to know why Ali's voice had been panged with the sound of grief. She couldn't stand the thought that Ali ever felt anything but happy. It would mean she was less than perfect and that just wasn't possible.

Apparently, none of the others mistook Ali's suggestion as a plea for help. They had all, instead, returned their watches to Mona, who was now sitting alone.

Lucas began making his way to the counter. That's when it happened.

A tear fell. One single, helpless tear streamed from Mona's eye, running down her cheek as if it were absorbing every ounce of unhappiness from her it could before splattering on the ground.

Spencer was almost disgusted to see that, once again, Alison was right.

As if she could not contain her unhappiness anymore, Mona sprang from her seat and went to the counter to meet Lucas.

She tugged at his shirt until he turned around, once again glowing.

"Here comes the finale." Alison predicted slyly. She too was now watching the scene that was unfolding intently. It was like an artist admiring her work; like a director watching a scene he had written come to life, engrossed in every movement to make sure everything went as planned.

It all happened rather fast. None of them could hear precisely what was being said, but body language certainly aided.

Mona spoke, placing a hesitant hand on Lucas's arm. Lucas's glow suddenly faded, like a sun setting, until his face was paler than usual. Mona was clearly having trouble going on, but appeared to be forcing herself to continue, mumbling and letting word after word tumble out of her mouth without much breath in between.

Less than a minute had passed. Then, Lucas removed her hand from his arm and shook his head. He looked utterly disgusted, betrayed and most of all, hurt. Spencer was dying to know what was being said. She shot a glance at Ali. She at least would've taken some satisfaction in knowing that Ali was just as lost as she was. But, of course, she wasn't. Somehow, Alison knew exactly what was going on. It was like she had seen this picture a thousand times. She exhibited only slight interest, conveyed entirely in her smirk. The rest of her face indicated a sense of almost boredom, as if it turned out to be much less climactic than she had hoped.

After a few more delicate words, Mona's head dropped. Lucas brushed past her and headed out the door, the bell ringing to announce to the coffee shop the demise of their relationship. Mona stood, head hanging for a few moments before the person working the counter returned carrying two large mugs. He requested payment clearly, but all she could do was shove them back at him and shake her head viciously, holding back tears. Then, before he could argue further, she turned and raced towards the door. Hanna hoped inside herself that Mona at least could flee some humiliation and make a clean, quiet escape. Unfortunately, as charitable as that thinking was, it wasn't enough to save Mona from what happened next.

All of the sudden, the sound of soft music that had been humming over the radio was drowned out by excessive laughter. Even though only the five girls at the "it" table had been watching before as the mess unfolded, it seemed everyone in the restaurant was now taking notice of Mona who had tripped rather violently over a chair and landed in a rather heavy mans lap, forcing him to spill scolding coffee all over himself with a loud yelp.

Alison laughed as hard and as nastily as the others as Mona stood and looked around helplessly, her tiny hint of self confidence brutally wounded.

Her tears were flowing freely now, and she ducked her head, murmuring sorry several times to the man now tending to his burns. Like everyone else who ever talked to Mona, he seemed not to care.

She pushed past him and continued her line for the door. She then stumbled again, this time not nearly as ferociously, and looked down to see the source of her stagger.

Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily laughed along with everyone else, but there amusement with the situation was strictly surface deep. Inside, all they did was try to tame an awful sense of sympathy.

They were too busy fake laughing to notice what Mona saw as she looked down. Mona followed the dainty foot with the dazzling red nail polish from its resting place in a simple Old Navy flip-flop, all the way up to the heart shaped face with blond hair and intense blue eyes that awaited her.

For a moment, Mona's deep brown eyes collided with Ali's blue ones as Ali's sneaky grin expanded over her lips.

"Oops," she mocked, slowly allowing her foot to retreat from Mona's path. "You should really watch where you're going." Then, Ali started laughing again, simply encouraging all those around her who had somewhat settled down to join in once more. Mona's face shifted from embarrassment, to confusion to utter contempt in mere seconds, and although Ali turned away to signify that the moment was now properly concluded, Spencer couldn't help but notice a fourth, somewhat unsettling, emotion that resolved to Mona's face. She thought Mona was completely incapable of such a thing, but still, she saw the mark of complete and total desire for revenge.


	7. What did that letter say?

"That note had something to do with this, didn't it Ali?" asked Spencer as they walked home.

The other three girls had gone together after the coffee incident to shop for a little bit. Alison had declined, saying her mom needed her help at home. Spencer decided to tag along with Alison. She claimed it was because she had homework to do, a lie they all immediately believed considering what a workaholic she is, but honestly, she wanted answers and now was the perfect time to propel them out of Alison.

Alison was often more inclined to talk about things she otherwise regarded as "secrets" to Spencer when it was just the two of them. Spencer often figured it was because she was the only one Alison fully trusted, but lately, she began to think that it was perhaps because sharing a secret with one instead of four was much safer. If the one ever turned on her or decided to tell, Ali knew her word, be it fact or fiction, would always outweigh those of Spencer, Hanna, Aria or Emily separately. Sharing a secret with all of them was too risky, seeing as they could easily form an alliance and decide to share the secret, making it rather difficult to deny.

"Of course it did." Ali beamed, as if she was completely proud of herself.

"Look, I know what you said yesterday but, given this mornings events do you think you could…I mean, do you think you'd be willing to release to me the details?"

"Speak English, Spence." Alison ordered.

"What did the note say Alison?"

For some reason, Alison broke easy today. She didn't seem to care suddenly about sacrificing the contents of the letter to Spencer. Maybe it was because the trauma she had hoped to inflict was already done so now it no longer held an upper edge for her.

"Do you want it word for word or readers digest version?" Alison teased.

"Word for word would be fine."

"Fine." Alison stopped on the sidewalk. She turned and faced Spencer. She then recited: "Dear Mona, I know what you did. Break up with Hermie or I'm going public. Tell him to meet you at the coffee shop tomorrow at 9am, and then cut him loose. I'll be waiting for you, so don't think you can run. Xoxo." When she finished, she smiled and let out a slight laugh. "Brilliant, right?"

"Wow Alison. 'Meet him at the coffee shop…I'll be waiting?' Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?"

Alison laughed. "Relax, 9am, remember? It's the most crowded part of the day and almost everyone from Rosewood scrunches themselves into that tiny shit hole. Our identities are totally safe."

" 'Our' Identities?" Spencer emphasized, trying to explain that she didn't understand why it was suddenly "we're all in this together."

Alison giggled, and said jokingly "Hey, if I go down, you're going down."

Spencer felt a slight twinge of uneasiness come over her. She assumed Ali was just kidding, but what if she weren't?

She couldn't bare to stay on that thought much longer though.

"What did she do?" Spencer asked, trying to return the conversation back to the contents of the note. She couldn't help it. Her curiosity was advancing with each detail.

"I don't know." Alison answered, nonchalantly.

"Alison, come on. Obviously you do know."

"Everyone's done something they're not proud of Spence. Just because I don't know what it is doesn't mean Mona has to know that."

"So how did you know she'd follow through? What if she didn't have a secret?"

"Everyone has a secret," Ali countered, stating it with a strong sense of validity, as if it were a pure, wholesome and undeniable truth.

"Even me." She added with a quick flick of her eyes. She turned and continued walking down the sidewalk, fully aware that Spencer would turn and continue to follow her like a puppy.

"So what? You just did it to be mean then?"

Ali hissed but continued walking. "I did her a favor Spencer. If Hermie and her were to actually get together…well, could you imagine? What kind of a person would I be if I allowed them both to be ridiculed like that? I mean, any shot Mona has to pop herself out of the social gutter would disappear with Lucas on her arm."

"I don't think that's your call to make Ali."

"Spencer what is up your butt lately?" Suddenly, Ali filled with some sort of rage. She wasn't use to being badgered. No, typically Ali said something and everyone agreed, congratulated, envied and moved on. Being prodded with questions and rebukes was not something she cared for at all.

Spencer froze next to her, the iciness of her gaze shooting through her, dousing her flame of confidence.

"Nothing, I just…I just don't think you needed to do that, that's all." Spencer wanted to stand firm, head held high, to prove her unwavering commitment to preach what she knew was right. Instead though, her shoulders dropped and her eyes lowered, unable to meet Ali who was still standing tall and secure.

"Oh isn't this adorable. Saint Spencer, suddenly an expert on morality. I wonder though Spence, where was this morality when you were laying one on your sisters boyfriend, or does that situation not count? I guess you _needed _to do that." She mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Alison, I don't want to fight. I just…"

"You're right." Alison interrupted bitterly. "You don't want to fight with me Spencer. I know you Hastings' are use to winning, but trust me. You can't beat me. If you fight me, I promise, you will lose."

Spencer stood in an uncertain shock, unable to truly grasp onto the fact that Alison honestly just said that to her.

Alison backed away from Spencer and turned, walking at a brisk pace to her house, clearly unable to give a second thought to Spencer at the moment.

Even though Spencer knew she should be furious at Ali and her competitive nature should kick in and tell her to prove Ali wrong, she wasn't and it didn't.

"Ali," Spencer called after her. She was already looping through possible apologies in her head.

But Alison was long gone, up the street and out of sight. Spencer could practically see the steam trailing from her ears as she went.

Spencer knew there was no use in going after her, so she continued up the street herself, slowly, pulling out her cell phone and staring at the message screen, already considering possible apology texts she could send.


	8. Ali's Not So Secret Admirer

**Hey guys! If you've read this far, I'd just like to say THANK YOU! That's awesome! **

**This next chapter is my favorite so far, so I hope you'll agree! **

**Stay tuned for more lying, secrets and heartbreak! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! **:)

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><p>Alison shut the door behind her as she made her way to her bed. How dense could Spencer be? Her constant questions were beginning to upset Ali. For the first time in her life, Alison Dilaurentis actually felt nervous. What if Spencer actually found out what else that letter said? What if Spencer found out her true motives for sending it in the first place?<p>

Ali shuddered thinking about it. She was regretting ever letting Spencer into her clique. She wished she would've realized sooner how nosey she could be. But now she was stuck. Alison knew she couldn't just drop Spencer out of the blue. Even if she made her life a living hell, which she totally would, Spencer would be motivated to do even more to uncover the truth and to take Ali down with her.

Her phone vibrated yet again, and Alison finally felt cooled down enough to look at it. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw the 8 messages from Spencer. She grinned to herself, knowing that her worrying was unnecessary. Evidently Spencer was still obsessed with pleasing her.

She didn't waste her time reading any of them and instead deleted them all and sent Spencer a text back.

_It's ok Spence. I guess we both lost our cool there. Friends forever, right? 3_

Almost immediately, she got a text back confirming that yes, they would be friends forever. Alison laughed to herself. Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, so predictable and so easily fooled.

Ali threw her phone down next to her and leaned over the edge of the bed. She pulled out her journal and opened it up to a fresh page.

She began writing about every single thing that had happened to her the last 24 hours. She wrote an almost flawless description of the events and the people and the dialogues, especially focusing on Mona's humiliation, graphically recreating each second. Once her work was complete, she read it over and beamed with contentment. It was a perfect addition to all of the other secrets and stories the little blue diary contained.

Her phone vibrated again. She rolled her eyes, irritated at Spencer's desperateness. She picked it up and rolled her eyes yet again, noticing that it wasn't Spencer at all, but Ian. She answered the incoming call.

"What do you want?" She asked, rather harshly. She continued grazing over bits and pieces of her newly finished literary masterpiece as she awaited a reply.

"Woah," Ian said over the phone, "Take it easy. I was just wondering what you're up to?"

"I'm kind of busy right now." Alison lied, flipping back a few pages to read previous entries. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to him.

"That's too bad." Ian said. Then there was silence. Obviously he was waiting for her to barge in with inquiries and frantic pleas as to why that was too bad. But, Alison didn't buckle for anyone. She remained dead silent.

Finally, Ian broke. "That's too bad because I was hoping you and I could get together."

Alison shrugged and rolled over onto her back, nuzzling the phone in between her shoulder and ear as she held the journal above her.

"Oh were you?" She asked, suppressing a giggle as she read about the day she found Aria's father cheating with a student. She couldn't imagine the luck she had stumbling on such a juicy secret.

"Yeah. So what do you say? The kissing rock, five minutes?"

How pathetic was he? Alison assumed Ian would be more mature and romantic, being as he is four years older than her, but she was absolutely wrong. All he wanted to do was make out, talk about making out, and then make out again. It was disgusting. Still, Alison kept him around for the same reason she kept everyone else around: power. Dating an older boy, a boy who is technically off limits, was the ultimate power. Not only could she hold it over him but she could flaunt it to all of the girls her age who would enviously stare her down. Of course, none of them knew about this clandestine relationship yet because it wasn't the right time. But eventually, when the time was right, she'd be able to announce it and reap rewards.

Admittedly, she did have real feelings for Ian at first but they soon dissipated and she grew bored with him; Bored of his constant lust and constant worry of being caught. He wasn't the dangerous, heart-racing excitement she was hoping for. He was bland and horny. She didn't want to dispose of him just yet though. She knew she could still find possibilities and opportunities he could prove useful for. For example, he was already doing a fairly good job of keeping Jason's other creepy friends away from her since he felt a duty of protection now. So, Alison glanced over at her alarm clock, noting that it was only 10:15, and figured she could spare a few minutes until she planned on meeting up with the girls for lunch.

"Make it ten." She purred into the phone.

"Alright. See you there." She could tell by his voice that he was smiling, totally intoxicated by the thought of meeting her. She released her left hand from its grip on the journal in order to reach down and turn off the phone.

As she did so, a neatly folded piece of paper fluttered out from the pages now dangling from the binding above her head.

She sat up and closed the book, curiously reaching for the tiny piece of paper.

Suddenly, she remembered what it was. She shivered with excitement. Alison had completely forgotten about the letter.

"To Ali," it said on the front, written in messy, boyish handwriting. She unfolded it slowly, and then hesitated. She remembered how much heartbreak it had caused her at one point; the sorrow and depression she plummeted into as its meaning became clearer and clearer. Still, she couldn't help but read it.

_I know that we aren't exactly similar. In fact, sometimes I wonder if we're even on the same planet. Still, every time I see you I can't help but smile. To say you're beautiful would be an understatement._

_Everything about you mesmerizes me and I wish you could see how much I love you. I can see you're misunderstood. I know your meanness is all just an act that you hide under. Everyone sees your beauty, but no one is willing to look deep and see your inner beauty which to me, radiates from you with every breath and every word. _

_I wish I had the guts to tell you, but I know you'd only laugh at me. But the truth is, Ali, that I love you more than you can ever imagine. I wish there was some way you could know this and more importantly, I wish there were some way you felt it too. _

_Alison Dilaurentis, I am completely and unbelievably in love with you. Unfortunately, you'll never know._

Actually, Ali did know. She knew all too well who wrote this letter and she became angry for allowing herself to read it again after being fully aware of the torment it contained.

It seemed like such a loving note. It was romantic and sweet and heartfelt and all the other things a girl hoped prince charming would write to her. But that was the problem.

It wasn't prince charming who wrote this letter. And it certainly wasn't Ian or any perfectly handsome boy in her class.

She wasn't sure why reading the note made her so upset. Or maybe she did know and she just denied it.

She wanted to burn it, lose it, burry it, anything to get rid of it and forget it. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. It would be like burning, losing and burying the most meaningful part of her past. The part she cherished most of all and always regretted ruining. The part that no one even knows existed.

She read over the note again but stopped once she noticed tears were beginning to swell in her eyes. She was starting to show signs of weakness and she couldn't handle that.

She crumpled the note feverishly and prepared to throw it across the room to the wastebasket, but stopped. She couldn't make herself do it.

"C'mon Alison. You can do it. Just let it go." She told herself, but she sighed, bringing her arm down and straightening out the wrinkles it now contained.

That was it. She couldn't do it. She could never do it. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't let go of that letter; The letter that touched her yet tormented her. The letter that made her fall in love and yet brought her to hate love. The letter that completed her while also tearing her apart.

Why did he write this letter? She'd often wondered that. Why did he go thru the effort and not be bold enough to put his name? Did he know she would approach him? Did he suspect the feelings were mutual? Did he expect all the craziness that followed? Unlikely.

She hated the fact that he wrote this letter, yet, at the same time, she adored it. It was confliction after confliction when it came to him. Everything was so right yet so wrong. Her mind buzzed with questions that she knew she'd never get the answers to and it tortured her to no end. She couldn't bear to look at it anymore so she slipped it back into the pages of her diary and buried her face in her hands.

"Lucas," she finally whispered to herself, feeling a tear escape from the barrier of her eye. "Why?"


	9. Got A Secret Can You Keep It?

"Where've you been?" Jason asked Ali as she came through the front door.

Alison pretended not to hear, throwing her Abercrombie hoodie on the back of a dining room chair and heading to the staircase.

"Hey," he repeated, "I asked you a question."

Alison turned from the first step back to Jason who was peering over the back of the couch over his shoulder.

"What do you care?"

Jason laughed darkly and ran a hand through his hair. His other hand rested on his lap, balancing a glass of iced tea.

He avoided the question.

"You know, that was very sneaky Alison." Jason said.

"What are you talking about?" said Ali, annoyed Jason was wasting her precious time.

" 'Mom, please excuse the mess,'" Jason began in a mocking representation of Ali's voice. It was some where in between the vocal range of a song bird and a dying a cat. " 'Jason said he'll take care of it. He owes me."'

Jason snickered again and returned to his normal husky voice. "I especially enjoyed the winky face at the end. Good touch." With that, Jason held up a pink sticky note that he had been beside him on the sofa. It was the sticky note Ali had left on the counter that morning after breakfast.

Alison narrowed her eyes but played along. "Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate that."

"See," Jason began, shaking his head. "Here's the thing though Alison."

He stood, carrying his iced tea with him as he made his way to Ali at the front of the staircase. The sticky note was hanging off of his pointer finger using what was left of its adhesion, dangling in the air, taunting Ali with every slight wave it made.

He stopped in front of her. Ali crossed her arms, eyes still narrowed, attempting to intimidate Jason as she could everyone else. He didn't seem phased.

"You said I owe you, but…well…" He pretended to contemplate this for a moment then continued "I don't."

"Oh yeah?" Alison countered with a huff. "Need I remind you of last weekends little 'get-together?'" she said, using air quotes to signify that the get-together was in fact more of an all out booze fest. "Not that you actually _remember _any of it anyways. You were too hammered."

"Need I remind _you,_" Jason counteracted, "that I know all of your dirty little secrets and I could give them all away whenever I want?"

"Yeah right." Alison said, not the least bit worried. She never told anyone her secrets. The only people in the world who knew her true secrets were herself and her journal.

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know you're scared of having your secrets exposed. And I know you have a birthmark on your…"

"So what?" Alison interrupted, growing tired of this lousy game of back-and-forth. "Those aren't 'dirty little secrets,' those are just…I don't even know what they are…facts?" She waved a hand through the air, showing that she dismissed them completely. She turned on her heel planning to head upstairs when Jason caught her arm.

"Not good enough for you, huh? Ok." Jason gave in. Suddenly, his obnoxious teasing turned into something more sinister. His smile curled and he raised his brow. "How about the fact that you caught Aria's dad cheating with a student? Or how about when you stole that money you 'planned to return' from mom's purse in order to buy that hoodie you wanted? Or what about when you and that freak Lucas – "

"How do you know all of that?" Alison suddenly burst, turning around in a whirlwind. It was as if Jason snuck into her mind when she wasn't paying attention. There was no way he, or anyone else, could figure out all of that unless…

"You should probably find a lock for this," Jason said, pulling her blue diary out of his back jean pocket. She gasped, half in shock and half in complete outrage.

She made a rudimentary lunge for it while Jason simply laughed and held it away from her.

"Woah, calm down there tiger," He played. Alison was fuming, scrambling for it with all her might. Finally, she ceased her action, realizing it was only making her look desperate and foolish.

She spoke callously but calmly: "Give me that Jason. Give me that now, or I swear, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Jason challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Alison was out of plays. What could she do? Threaten to expose him? Not now. Not now that he had an entire encyclopedia worth of blackmail in his hand.

"That's what I thought." Jason remarked, noting her silence. "Now don't freak yet. I haven't read the _whole _thing. I'm sure there are still some juicier parts to read thru." He stuffed the book back into his pocket.

"What do you want?" Alison mumbled, biting her tongue from slipping with something harsher that might encourage him to do something drastic.

Jason took a casual sip of his iced tea then replied, not even bothering to look at her. "You stop threatening me, you stop showing up uninvited to my parties, you and your little friends stop snooping around my things and you call me sir from now on."

"Hell no." Alison answered. No matter what he could pull on her, referring to him as "sir" was just not going to happen. She'd rather be exposed completely and be defeated with some shred of dignity left.

Jason smirked. Apparently, it was a trademark characteristic that both Dilaurentis siblings had inherited.

"Fine. Truth be told, all I want is some privacy Alison. No more hanging around me trying to catch me doing something wrong. Mind your own business and stay out of mine. Got it?"

"And then?" Alison asked, considering the terms.

"Then you'll get your life back," he said, gesturing to the book in his pocket.

"You're such an ass." Alison stated, folding her arms tighter.

Jason just shook his head and downed the rest of his iced tea.

"Whatever you say, Alison. Just be careful. You never know when one of your secrets may get out. By accident of course." He winked at her.

Ali bit her lip so tightly she thought she may draw blood. She wished it were Jason's head instead.

Jason inspected his glass, seeing that it was entirely empty and then reached it to Ali with a glint in his eyes.

"Mind washing this for me?" It was clearly a demand instead of a request, dripping with the threatening venom of possible blackmail should it not be heeded.

Alison angrily took the glass from his hand. She turned and brushed past his shoulder violently on her way to the kitchen.

"Ali, wait." He called softly. For a split second, she thought he may actually apologize and feel guilty for how unbearable he was being.

She turned back to him. He came up to her, his head down. But he was far from sorry. Instead, he looked up with a smile and held his pointer finger up, the finger still dressed in the sticky note.

He yanked the sticky note off of his finger and placed it on her forehead.

"You forgot this."


	10. Ali's Secret Beats Victoria's For Sure

**Hey guys! Sorry this chapter's so long. I just couldn't help myself! :)**

** I'd love to hear some reviews to know what you guys think since this is my first fanfiction. **

**As always, love you guys for reading! Enjoy! :)**

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><p>"Wait, why aren't you coming?" Aria asked into her cell phone as she walked into the restaurant.<p>

Hanna, Spencer and Emily were already sitting at a table made for five awaiting the two missing parts of their group.

"Alison," Aria said into the phone, waving to the others as they took notice of her.

"Are you sure? I mean, we're already here and…" Aria's face twitched slightly and the girls looked on, knowing Alison was getting fired up about something. Whatever she did, it eliminated Aria's imploring.

"Ok. No, I understand. I just wanted to make sure you're alright and everything, that's all." Aria said into the phone. A few more seconds passed, indicating that Alison was answering her, and then Aria nodded. Even over the phone, she felt the need to show Alison she was paying attention, as if Ali were watching her and rating her on how well she was acting sympathetic.

"Ok, so I guess we'll just see you tomorr…" Mid-sentence, Aria turned and looked at her cell in bewilderment, which then faded into comprehension.

"She hung up, didn't she?" Spencer asked, already certain of her answer.

Aria nodded and slipped her cell phone into her pocket.

She then took off her jacket and purse and slung them over her chair before taking a seat.

"So what's up with Ali?" Emily asked, a genuine sense of concern strung in her words.

"I don't know. She won't tell me. All she said was she wasn't going to be able to make it. When I tried to push further into it…well, you heard what happened."

For a moment, they all looked around the room, unable to find words to say to each other. When Ali wasn't with them, it was…strange. It didn't feel right talking about anything worthwhile or newsworthy without Alison present. She couldn't shower you with compliments or be impressed at the luscious gossip you dug up if she wasn't there to hear it. Just saying it to each other would be unrewarding and a waste.

Luckily, Spencer was the first to speak up and break the awkward air.

"So," she started, "what are you guys ordering?"

"The same thing we always do. God Spence, how dumb are you?"

That's what Alison would've responded with. Spencer flinched thinking about it. She knew Alison all too well it seemed, yet, at the same time she felt like she didn't know her at all.

In reality though, there was another stale silence for a few seconds before the others picked up their menus as if they just realized they were there, and began scanning them.

"Oh, I don't know," Aria said, "I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for."

"Yeah, me neither," agreed Emily.

Spencer sighed to her self and glanced at the empty seat reserved for Alison. Obviously, they were lying. Alison - or at least the Alison voice in Spencer's head that had answered for her - was right. The fact that they had all rushed to answer by nervously picking up their menus indicated how discomfited all of them really felt. Heck, Spencer knew the fact that she even bothered _asking _that stupid question showed her own gaucheness.

The girls had been spending lunches together every Saturday for the last two years or so. They generally circulated between the three best restaurants in the mall. Obviously, this meant they were all very well acquainted with the menus and they each already had a special order that they planned on every week. Very few alterations were ever made. In fact, most of the time the waiters who were familiar with them didn't even bother bringing menus at all.

The time ticked torturously slow with the conversation dipping in and out of boring subjects such as when the next football game is and what homework is due on Monday. Eventually, the lunch ended though and the bills were paid and the girls gathered in a cluster outside of the restaurant in one of the many busy hall walkways.

They didn't really know what to do now. They could go shopping, but would it be any less strange then lunch had been? They could all go their separate ways but then what's there to do the rest of the day? None of them wanted to stand in that clump, fidgeting with their bags and hair, contemplating what to do next, but none of them wanted to leave either.

Suddenly, Em's eyes lit up. "Hey," she began, "why don't we go to Ali's and surprise her? Whatever's upsetting her, I'm sure we can help!"

"Yeah!" Hanna immediately joined in, as all of her excitement that had been missing the last hour suddenly resurfaced with the mention of Ali's name, "And we can bring her something to cheer her up!"

"Like a stuffed animal," suggested Aria, equally excited.

"Alison wouldn't want a stuffed animal." Spencer stated, shaking her head as her mind began to mentally check through all of the reasonable present options.

"What about some make up?" Spencer suggested after narrowing it down to that and a coupon for a spa treatment day.

"She might take that offensively," said Hanna, imagining Alison looking at a package of classy mascara and eyeliner and throwing it back at them totally insulted. What did Ali need makeup for anyways? She was already gorgeous.

"I know what to get her," Emily beamed. They all looked to her for the answer. She seemed to be daydreaming more so than looking at them.

"That blue hoodie from Victoria's Secret that says PINK across the front."

For a moment, they all stared wondering why and how she chose that so randomly. She came down out of her reverie and snapped back into reality, noting the pointed stares from her friends.

She smiled and explained her reasoning.

"Alison saw it when she and I went shopping last week. She said she loved it but she already spent her money on some new jeans so she had to pass. She'd be so thrilled if we got it for her, I just know it." Emily bit her lip with anticipation, imagining Ali's face lighting up when she received the gift, thanking her profusely and maybe even giving her a little thank you peck on the cheek. Emily almost blushed just thinking about it.

The others looked at one another and gradually agreed.

They all turned and made their way for Victoria's Secret.

Spencer smiled within her self, thinking it was rather fitting that Alison's favorite store have the word secret in it. She wondered if Victoria were any good at keeping her secrets away from Ali or if Ali had figured out Victoria's secret by now too.

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><p>The girls made their way up Ali's porch, the hoodie safe and sound in the Victoria's Secret bag hanging from Emily's arm.<p>

Standing together on Alison's porch without Ali present was very odd. Suddenly, everything seemed intimidating. The position of the porch furniture seemed perfectly set up as if it followed some strict mathematical formula. They were scared to lean on it or brush it, as if throwing it off by the slightest integer would cause the whole house to collapse.

It felt as if they were knocking on this door for the first time. As unlikely as that seems, Spencer thought about it for a moment and came to realize, it was actually true. This was the first time her, or any of them, were coming _to _Ali's house. Alison always showed up at their houses, waltzing in as if it were her home too. Whenever she had them come to her house, she either led them there personally because she was already with them, or she met them on the porch, sitting in one of the perfectly setup porch chairs, sipping an iced tea and awaiting their arrival.

Spencer couldn't shake the odd sensation of being unwelcome. Still, she didn't let her leadership falter. She knocked on the door.

Soon, a familiar face opened up with a look of pure confusion.

"Girls," began Mrs. Dilaurentis "I didn't know you were coming over."

"It was kind of a surprise," Spencer said. "For Ali."

"Oh, well that's very sweet. What's the occasion?"

"We thought we'd bring her a gift to make her feel better."

"Feel better?" Mrs. Dilaurentis raised an eyebrow.

"Uh Oh" Spencer thought. Maybe Alison hadn't wanted them to say anything to her mom about whatever it was upsetting her. Before she could play it off and correct her mistake, Aria, who seemed to have missed that memo, spoke up.

"She's not sick or anything," Aria said, "she just didn't come to lunch. She just seemed upset over something so we wanted to cheer her up."

"I'm sure it's nothing major," Spencer immediately clarified. "Probably just some silly girl drama, you know?"

Mrs. Dilaurentis nodded slowly. "Right," she said. Obviously, she was pretty unsure about the whole situation. "Well, I'm afraid she's not in right now, but you're more then welcome to leave your gift in her room." With that, she opened the door and gestured the four girls in.

A warning siren flashed in Spencer's eyes. Somehow, she didn't feel like Ali would approve of them being in her room without her there to supervise. She felt like she was committing a crime.

Emily apparently felt a similar feeling as she exchanged an unsure glance with Spencer.

Hanna and Aria on the other hand didn't seem the least bit thrown off. They said thank you to Mrs. Dilaurentis and walked into the home.

Clearly, there was no turning back now, so Spencer and Emily followed, weighted down with apprehension.

"I assume you know where you're going," Mrs. Dilaurentis joked, patting Spencer's back. Spencer smiled weakly. Yes, they knew exactly where they were going.

All four of them made their way up the steps and found themselves face to face with Alison's bedroom door.

"Where do you think Ali is?" Aria asked. Spencer was secretly relieved at the start of conversation. It delayed having to actually open her door and move in.

"Yeah, I thought she was upset about something? I thought she'd be sulking at home." Hanna said.

"Alison doesn't sulk," Spencer affirmed, "she finds a way to handle the situation. She's all about solutions, not sitting around and waiting."

Emily looked down at the hoodie, comfortably nestled within the shopping bag. She felt a twinge of disappointment at the fact she wouldn't be able to see Ali's face when she opened it and revealed what it was, and she wouldn't be able to gloriously take credit for thinking of the idea. It slightly broke her heart to think about Alison out and about with other people, laughing and having a good time to ease whatever pain she had had only a while before instead of being with Emily.

"Look, let's just get this over with. I feel dead weird." Hanna said, pulling her shirt sleeves tighter on her arms. She had been overcome with a strange chill ever sense ascending the stairs.

With that, Hanna opened Ali's bedroom and the four stepped in.

The scent of vanilla encircled them as they stepped further inside the room. They all stood for a moment, basking in the glow. It was as if everything that made Alison perfect was being shared with them; like a light that only Alison received had become available to them in her absence.

Emily made her way to the bed and gently placed the bag down on it. She held onto the handle as she looked around the room. Everything was so organized. Nothing was out of place. It was like an angel lived there. But an angel did live here, didn't she?

With a deep breath, Emily released the handle, sacrificing the gift to the room's approval.

Spencer was the first to snap out of the spell. "Come on," she eventually said, making her way to the door. "I think we should probably go."

"Yeah," Aria agreed, meeting Spencer in the doorway.

Right then, Emily turned to follow but stopped when she felt her shoe land on something that didn't match the texture of the rose colored carpet.

She lifted her foot and saw a folded piece of paper lying on the ground, clearly wrinkled as if someone had been looking over it nonstop.

At first, she hesitated to pick it up, knowing that Alison probably wouldn't want her to. But then, the flashback of the previous night when Spencer had spoken to her popped into her head. She had been so upset that she hadn't taken the opportunity to read that note that Mona had gotten even though she was so close to it. She didn't want to pass up another chance like that.

She reached down and picked up the paper, turning it over to where she saw a greeting line.

"To Ali," she read. The other's, visibly curious, stepped back in and looked at the note.

"What's that?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know." Emily replied, unable to bring herself to open it. Suddenly, her new found defiance broke and she once again felt like she was overstepping her boundaries.

Aria took it out of her hands and read the greeting as well.

"Who do you think it's from?" she asked, flipping it over.

"Well, there's one way to find out." Spencer said, gesturing to it with a raised brow.

They all looked at each other, asking each other with their eyes what was the reasonable thing to do. Finally, all morals and consequences put aside, curiosity overtook them and the four girls gathered around Aria's hands as she unfolded the letter and read it aloud.


	11. Guilt is a Bitch

"I don't think you should've taken that," Emily said, referencing the note Spencer was carrying with her eyes.

"She probably won't even notice," Spencer retaliated, slipping the note into her pocket.

The girls had just left Alison's house and after a slight debate over what to do with the letter, Spencer took the lead and enforced that they should take it. None of them really had the chance to argue before Mrs. Dilaurentis appeared in the bedroom doorway and asked if everything was alright, at which point all four girls pretended as if everything was alright and made their way out of the room.

Of course, nothing was alright. Not really.

All of their lives simultaneously shattered with the realization that Alison was hiding something from them. Of course they had all had their suspicions. Actually, not really suspicions, more like certainties. But they forced themselves to deny the obvious signs so they could live in their perfect little wonderlands where they convinced themselves that Ali was actually as close to them as they were to her.

"Do you think she knows who wrote it?" questioned Hanna.

"Probably," Spencer said, "I mean come on, even if it were a secret admirer at one point, Alison would've found out who it was eventually. No one can keep a secret from Ali. Not really."

Aria's eyes met the pavement as she considered this explanation. Spencer was totally right. If Ali wanted to know something, she figured it out. Nothing was secure from Alison.

"I still don't see why we had to take it," Emily repeated in a whisper. No one heard her though probably because their own regrets and theories were already loudly humming in their minds.

Emily felt more than guilty for taking the note though. She felt downright stingy. How could they steal from Ali? Worse than that, what if Ali found out? She'd go absolutely haywire and probably never speak to any of them again. To Emily, that was the worse punishment she could imagine.

"If no one can keep a secret from Ali, doesn't that mean she's probably going to find out we took that from her?" reasoned Hanna, looking around as if she feared this was all just a test Ali set up that they all horribly failed.

"Well, I'm not going to tell her," affirmed Spencer. "Are you?" She asked, directing the question to the entire group. They all stopped on the sidewalk and glanced about each others faces.

"No, of course not," Aria confirmed. "We're not suicidal."

Spencer smiled slightly. She knew they all needed to be together in this or it could completely blow up in their faces.

In reality, Spencer wasn't quite sure why she took the letter. Deep down, she just felt like Alison deserved to have something of hers taken for once; Some secret that she didn't think anyone else knew land in the possession of another person.

Hanna shook her head in agreement with Aria, but her lip biting verified that she was still uneasy about the situation. Spencer wasn't really concerned about Hanna though. She knew Hanna wouldn't have the guts to admit to Ali what they'd done. But Spencer was slightly apprehensive about Emily who had yet to show signs of agreement.

"Em," Spencer said. She tried to use a comforting voice to try and prove to Emily they were all on the same side. "What about you?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on Emily, awaiting her reply.

Emily wanted to run away and find Ali, give her a giant hug and lay her head on her shoulder while confessing the whole deed. She was torn. If she didn't tell Ali, she'd feel like she was betraying her completely. But, if she did, she knew she'd be divided from the rest of her friends. Which one was worth it?

"No," Emily sighed, "I won't tell."

Spencer smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Guys everything's going to be fine, ok? We didn't really do anything wrong. I mean, she probably won't even notice we took it." Spencer assured.

They all put on their best smiles and agreed in mumbles, yet somehow, none of them thought that was entirely true.

* * *

><p>When Emily got home, she was greeted with an empty house. Somehow, the silence made her remorse flood over her with greater force than before. She regretted every picking up the letter. If she could go back in time, she would've never mentioned that she stepped on it and just continued her line straight for the door. Ignorance truly was bliss and now that that was gone, the only feeling left was anxiety.<p>

Emily took a shower to try and relax her nerves and then attempted to read a book but neither of those things helped put her at ease at all.

In addition to fighting her own guilt, she was also fighting a second, stronger feeling: disappointment.

It was clear that Ali had someone in her life that adored her as much as Emily did and that physically sickened her. Whether or not Ali knows who it was or if she shared the feeling was beside the point. The fact that someone else saw Ali in the same light as her forced Emily to batter herself with questions and censures. How could she be so naïve? Of course Alison had other people who loved her. Everyone in Rosewood practically drooled when she walked by.

All Emily wanted to do was cry into her pillow and pretend the note had vanished into thin air.

Before she could do that though, a ringing startled her.

She pulled out her cell phone and her heart skipped a beat.

"Hel…hello?" Emily stuttered into the phone.

"Hey Em," Ali said in her soft, sweet Ali voice. It was a voice Emily often noticed she reserved just for her.

"Hi Ali," Emily repeated. Her cheeks were on fire, blushing from both shame and affection. "What's up?"

"I think you should come over," Alison stated casually, wasting no time at all getting to the point of her phone call.

"Now?" Emily asked, glancing at the time. They had only just left her house an hour ago. It would feel so awkward going back in so soon, like the crime they committed would be playing on repeat plain as day.

"No, next week." Ali said.

Emily raised her eyebrows and didn't answer, not sure what to say.

She heard Ali sigh at her lack of response and could tell she was rolling her eyes.

"Of course now," Ali giggled, "You're always so gullible."

"Why?" Emily asked, ignoring Ali's playful insult.

"Why not?" Ali countered. "Don't you want to see me?" She purred.

The way she said it made Emily's skin crawl, but in a delightful way.

"Yeah, of course, I was just wondering…" Emily began but Ali cut her off.

"I just wanted to thank you for my gift. Properly, I mean."

Her mind couldn't help but consider what exactly Ali meant by "properly."

"Oh, well that was from all of us," Emily admitted, even though she honestly wanted to take credit for it completely.

"Oh Em, you don't have to be so modest all the time. I know you're the one who arranged it all," Ali hummed, "You're the only one who really knows me."

Emily's heart was flipping over in her chest. Ali always knew just what to say.

"So are you coming or not?" Ali asked.

What could she say? Obviously she couldn't deny Ali's request. She'd know right away something was up. Plus, she didn't really want to. She cherished every moment she and Ali got to spend alone.

"Yeah, I'll be there in ten minutes," Emily answered, aware that she was all of the sudden smiling.

"Great, I'll be waiting," Ali sing-songed into the phone. Then, she hung up leaving Emily to daydream about the encounter that awaited her.


	12. Creative Writhing Class & Ali and Em

**Hey guys! This is pretty long, but I hope you like it! Explains a bit about the mysterious letter…**

**Also, couldn't help myself; I had to make an "A" reference. You'll see ;)**

**Enjoy!**

It was a year ago, approximately, and she was in her Creative Writing class. She only had one "friend" in that class. Friend meaning a person she was willing to talk to that wouldn't ruin her reputation or make her gag. That person was Noel Kahn.

She was stuck in the back row between him and Mona.

Anyways, it was Valentines Day and the juvenile teacher decided everyone should write a "secret admirer" type letter in honor of the holiday and then submit it to her. She would then pass them out at the end of class to who they were addressed to. Of course, they'd all be signed anonymously or, in Lucas' case, not at all.

It wasn't a graded assignment, just more like a stupid exercise. Alison looked around the room trying to contain her disgust. Who was she suppose to write to? Everyone was so…inferior.

"Noel," she said, "Who are you writing yours to?"

"The teacher," He answered with his award-winning smile.

"That's disgusting." Ali declared. Noel laughed.

"Well, I could just write one to you," he cooed. Ali rolled her eyes. Noel was hot, that wasn't a question. But he was so immature.

"I'll pass on that." Ali said. He shrugged, then delved back into his work.

"There, done." He announced a few seconds later, holding it up to read it. Ali snatched it from him.

"Let me see that," she then proceeded to read:

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue_

_You've got a nice rack,_

_Wish I had one too_

"You're a freak." Alison stated when she finished.

"What?" Noel asked, playing offended, "Hey, we don't have to put our names so who the hell cares?"

Alison rolled her eyes and handed it back to him. He did have a point there. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed on in Ali's mind. She smirked, a devious thought forming.

She scanned the room, looking for a victim that would fit her scheme perfectly. She settled her sights on the second row where she saw Lucas sitting, meticulously working on his own letter.

She immediately dove into her work, the words flowing from her hand in haste.

"Jeez," Noel commented, "What's come over you?"

Alison didn't answer and instead continued writing. When she finished, she held it up and beamed, reading over the finish product, congratulating herself in her mind for how flawless it had turned out.

"It's perfect," she whispered heartlessly.

Noel took it from her hands and read it over himself. The whole time, Ali watched, reading it along with him, engrossed with her work.

_Dear Lucas,_

_I love you more than words can describe. You are perfect in almost every way. When I look at you, my heart flutters and all I wish is that you would come to know my love for you. But, I fear this will never be because I am just so nervous to tell you. _

_Please, meet me in front of the school tomorrow morning. Bring a dozen roses with you so that I know you are waiting for me. If I see you there with my roses, I'll know you're the one and I will prove my love for you._

_I'll be waiting, _

_Love, A _

"A?" Noel questioned.

"For Anonymous." Alison clarified.

"You may want to change that up Alison. He may mistake it for your first initial."

That was one of the first smart things Ali had ever heard Noel say. Supposing he was probably right, she took it back and erased the A, replacing it with "Your Secret Admirer."

"So what do you think?" She inquired.

"I think it's vicious and cruel…it suits you."

Alison punched his arm and he laughed.

She reread it once more and was satisfied. She dotted all of her I's with hearts and added an XOXO at the bottom. Then, she folded it and strutted up to the front of the room, laying it on the teacher's desk, her mind overflowing with anticipation. On her way back to her seat, she glanced over at Lucas who was still writing feverishly. She could barely contain her laughter.

The end of class eventually came, and everyone formed a line at the teacher's desk, gathering their respective letters before heading out the door.

Noel, who was in front of Alison in line, got about six letters. He nodded, flipping the stack over in his hand, clearly content with the ego boost. How typical Noel, she thought.

When Alison reached the teacher, she was handed about eight letters. She was slightly disappointed. She had intended on at least ten. Regardless, she flashed a fake smile to the teacher and turned for the door.

Before she reached the doorway though, she felt herself collide with something. She turned to see Lucas stumble.

"S…Sorry," he squeaked out, reaching down to pick up a few things he had apparently dropped due to the collision.

Alison didn't say anything, but rather stared down at him as he scrambled to get everything.

When he stood back up, he was apparently somewhat delighted that she had stayed standing there instead of fleeing in embarrassment. Clearly he mistook her enjoyment at his inanity for affection.

"That was a stupid assignment, huh?" he asked. God, he was trying to start a conversation.

Alison raised her brow, her eyes like knives. Before she could say something bitchy in response, she noticed what Lucas had retrieved from the ground.

Not only one letter, but two. "Who the hell else would write a love note to him?" She wondered.

Then, she saw as he stuck the cap on a blue pen, securing it as tightly as he could. She never thought seeing that tiny action would later impact her so greatly.

She was overcome with a sense of smugness suddenly, her adrenalin picking up as she imagined Lucas reading her letter and falling head over heels at the prospect of someone loving him only to have it ferociously ripped away in time.

"Nah," she finally replied to his question after a somewhat lengthy delay. She eyed her note in his hand and smirked, "I didn't mind it."

With that, she turned and made her way out the door.

* * *

><p>"Ali?"<p>

Alison broke out of her reverie at the sound of Emily's voice just in time to see her make her way up the porch steps.

Ali sat up straighter in the porch seat and smiled.

"Are you ok?" Emily asked, making her way to the seat next to Ali.

"Yeah," Ali assured her.

There was a pause.

"Well, sit down." Ali insisted.

Emily swallowed and tried to contain the culpability that swarmed inside her. She sat down.

"Looked like you were deep in thought there for a minute," Emily observed.

"I was just thinking about all the good times we've had together. I was thinking about how lucky I am to have you as a friend," Ali lied with a coy grin.

Emily sat silently for a moment, soaking in the compliment. The, she spoke again.

"Why didn't you come to lunch today? We were all worried," She confessed.

Alison laughed. "Worried about what?"

Emily averted her eyes, staring down at her own fumbling hands. Alison reached her hand over and solidly placed it on top of Emily's causing her to look up at her.

"I'm a big girl, Em. I can take care of myself." Alison guaranteed, flashing a seductive smile.

"Yeah, I know…" Emily stuttered out, "It's just…Well, Ali," Emily then looked directly into Ali's eyes. They were so blue; so beautiful. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Nothing seemed appropriate. Nothing could sum up her feelings into words.

She let the sentence hang in the air and then sighed.

"It's just what?" Ali whispered, coaxing her to go on.

"It's just…If something was bothering you…I just wish you'd talk to me…to us. Instead of being so…secretive."

Ali withdrew her hand from Emily's.

"It's not a secret," Ali said, startlingly defensive, "It's just complicated, ok?" She then rolled her eyes, adding with a disgusted grunt, "You're starting to remind me of Spencer."

Emily turned away. She hated when Ali was upset with her and she felt awful for disconcerting her. She swallowed hard, unable to even form a proper apology.

Ali must've seen how uncomfortable she felt because she sighed. "Look," she began, "It's nothing to concern yourself with, Em," Ali said, tracing a hand along Emily's cheek until she turned back to her.

"I'm fine."

Emily looked at her, slightly comforted by her touch.

"Promise?" she asked, searching over Ali's countenance for some sign.

Ali leaned in closer to Emily, so close Emily practically had to go cross eyed in order to keep focusing on Ali's face. The scent of vanilla graced her nose, quite possibly her favorite scent in the whole world.

"Promise." Ali whispered.

Emily was certain Ali's lips were about to touch hers. She half closed her eyes in anticipation, but then Ali pulled away, removing her hand as well, completely breaking away from Emily.

Suddenly, Ali stood up.

"Let's go inside," she said, going to the front door and walking in, leaving the moment empty and dripping with what could've been.

For a second, Emily sat on the porch, replaying what had just happened. If only Ali knew how much suffering she caused her. Then she realized, maybe she did.

Not wanting to keep Ali waiting, she too got up and went inside.

"Close the door," Alison called from the kitchen.

Emily did as she was told and closed the door with a click, shutting out the rest of the world.

"Is anyone else home?" Emily called back to Ali.

"Nope. It's a party for two," Ali confirmed, coming into the living room with two glasses of iced tea.

She handed one to Emily who politely took it and smiled. Emily didn't really like iced tea. In fact, it was probably her least favorite drink in the entire beverage world. She use to remind Ali of this nearly every day, but Ali either didn't remember or didn't care. Emily got tired of always informing Ali time and time again because she felt like she was being a burden. So, now she just accepted it and casually sipped it a tiny bit at a time.

"Well?" Ali asked, raising her eye brow, looking to Emily for an answer to a question she never asked.

Emily stood, dumbfounded for a moment. Had Ali heard her thoughts?

"Well what?" Emily responded.

"Ugh, jeez, Em. Thanks a lot. I can see how much thought went into _this _present," Alison said sarcastically…or was that sarcasm?

Suddenly, Emily noticed Ali had put the new hoodie on. Emily couldn't believe she hadn't noticed right away, seeing as the color made the blue in Ali's eyes seem to explode even more than usual.

"Oh my gosh, Ali, it looks great on you!" Emily praised.

Ali took a sip of her tea and shot Emily a smile. She then flicked some of her blonde waves off of her face with her hand.

"Yeah, it does," Alison agreed as she strode over to the living room sofa. Emily followed her, mesmerized as usual.

"It was a great gift," Alison complimented as Emily took a seat next to her. She didn't sit too close although it was tempting. She wanted Alison to make the move closer to her, to give Emily some kind of sign that she wanted to be close to her too. But, she stayed where she was.

"I think it may be my new favorite hoodie," Alison continued, taking another seductive swig of her glass, keeping her eyes locked in on Emily's.

"You know why?"

"Why?" Emily asked, running her finger nervously over the condensation that had formed on her own glass.

"Because it's from you."

Emily felt herself blush and turned away so Ali wouldn't notice. She supposed she should probably say it wasn't just from her and defend the fact that the others had chipped in, but she didn't really want to. Alison already knew that anyways. For some reason, she was still shining the spotlight on Emily alone and Emily liked that…she liked that a lot.

"The others don't really get me. But you do, don't you?" Ali asked. It wasn't exactly sweet the way she said it. It sounded more like a verbal test. She was eyeing Emily as if she were inspecting her every reaction, like she was grading every response carefully to see if she should proceed.

"Yeah, I guess we're just really close," Emily said, biting her lip.

Alison smiled, apparently satisfied enough with that answer.

"Exactly," said Alison, "and we tell each other everything, don't we?"

Once again, it was like some sort of investigation. Emily felt her nerves swell. All she could think of was that stupid letter. Why had she read it? Why? She hated not being honest with Alison. It was like a part of her was tearing away.

"Yeah, of course," Emily lied, her eyes unable to keep on Ali's.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Em, because," Ali said, her grin stretching over her face. Then, she reached her hand out so it was once again touching Emily's hand, sending shock waves all over her body. With this movement, Ali slid closer. Not super close, but just enough to make Emily's heart turn over with acute hope.

Then, Ali spoke again, her eyes swimming in Emily's like she was somehow digging into her thoughts: "I need to talk to you about something."


	13. Conflicted Feelings

**Hey guys! I'm so, so SO sorry it took so long for this chapter! I just got a new computer and I haven't installed Word yet and I didn't know until the other day that I could use a different program. Lol :)**

**Anyways, I hope you'll still read and review! Have a great day! :D**

**PS- Pretty Little Liars, Season 2B returns January 2nd! Anyone else super excited?**

* * *

><p>"Ali I'm not sure I understand…" Emily said after a long pause, "You want me to…steal?"<p>

"Not steal," Ali clarified, "just…steal back."

"I don't know, I mean, won't he be upset?" Emily whispered, her heart pounding. Simply thinking about sneaking into someones room sent shivers of guilt up her spine. Stealing once was enough for any lifetime. She did not intend on making it a habit.

"It belongs to me, Em. He's the one who stole it from me." Alison was clearly getting tired of explaining herself. She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to help me, or not? Because right now it seems you don't care about me at all."

_Ouch. _No words could've wounded Emily more. She felt the need to quickly clarify her position on the matter.

"No, of course i care about you! It's not that at all! It's just…"

"What then?" Ali interjected, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Can't you do it?" Emily practically whimpered, like some puppy being scolded.

"I already told you I can't."

"But why…"

"You know what Em," Ali suddenly stood up. All of the kindness and sweet tones she had spoken with just minutes before in her plea for help seemed to have vanished completely. All that was left was sour resentment.

"Forget about it." She said, turning away from the couch.

"But…" Emily attempted, pushing herself up off the sofa as well. Her legs were wobbling beneath her.

Ali stood, her back to Emily. She pulled out her phone and started tapping the buttons vigorously. Emily tried to stealthily peek around Ali's shoulder, but jumped when Ali looked back at her.

"And why are you still here?" Alison asked bitterly before turning her focus back to her phone with a grunt.

Emily could feel her heart shattering inside her.

"You want me to leave?" She squeaked out, staring at Alison's wavy golden hair.

"You know Em," Alison said, turning back to face her, her phone falling to her side. "I thought you were my friend." She emphasized friend with a nasty snarl. "But I guess I was wrong."

"You can't be serious," Emily more or less pleaded, her eyes beginning to glimmer with tears. How could she be so cruel?

"Just get out Emily."

"Ali, why are you being like this?" Emily felt like the wind was knocked out of her. She'd seen Alison this mad before, but never had it come on so suddenly and never had it been directed towards her. She felt physically sick.

"Me?" Ali questioned, raising an eyebrow as if the question was completely uncalled for.

Just when Emily feared the climax of her fury was about to unleash, Ali's eyes suddenly softened and she let out a sigh. She turned her head to the ground and gently slipped her phone into her jean pocket. Ali's whole demeanor switched. Emily could barely believe her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Em." Alison said softly, facing the ground. "It's just…this is really important to me. Couldn't you please do it?" then she looked up, squarely looking Emily in the eye. Ali's blue eyes were sparkling. Their typical beauty was enhanced by something Emily didn't quite believe right away….was it a trick of light or was Ali actually…crying?

All of the sudden, Emily felt like she was being foolish for not heeding Ali's request in the first place. It wasn't _that _big of a deal after all, right? It was just a favor for a friend. A dear, dear friend. One she didn't want to lose.

Ali sniffled, covering one eye with her hand that was cozily covered by her hoodie sleeve. Emily approached her, hesitantly at first. Then, Ali met her half way and embraced her. Her vanilla shampoo immediately swirled around Emily and she was in heaven, holding Ali so close.

"Of course I'll do it." Emily heard herself say before it even registered in her mind. With that, Ali pulled away slightly and gave Emily a smile.

"Thank you." She said. She hugged her again before pulling away for good. Ali then brushed a piece of Emily's hair from her face. "You really are the best, you know." She whispered, back to her old, carefree, seductive self.

All Emily could do was smile. Even though it thoroughly pained her to see Ali cry, at the same time it felt as though she had unlocked some hidden part of Ali no one else was trusted enough to see. She knew deep down that Ali had to of cried from time to time, she was after all, only human. But Emily was certain she was the only one she knew of who had actually seen her do it. Ali could've forced her out of the door but she instead let her comfort her…she let her walls down. Ali! The same Ali who refused to shed a tear even when all of them gathered to watch Titanic at Spencer's. Ali, the one who watched tragic news stories on CNN on starving kids in Africa during History class and actually giggled! It was as if they shared some sacred bond now that no else could touch.

"So," Emily finally said after a few moments had gone by. "When should I do it?"

"He took it with him," Ali informed her, "so we can't so anything about it yet," Emily loved that Ali had said "we," indicating it was a team project, even though Emily had been stuck with the dirty work. She liked to know Ali still considered herself part of the team.

"But I'll let you know what to do. You just leave it to me," She said, flashing her "I'm Ali and I'm fabulous" smile.

"Ok," Emily said, finding herself astonishingly glad she had accepted to be part of the scheme. What was the worse that could happen? Even if the penalty was death, she'd be willing to do it a hundred times over just to have Ali love her again.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Ali announced. Emily nodded, still lost in her own thoughts. She then noticed that Ali had lifted an eyebrow and hadn't moved. That's when she looked down and saw that she was still gripping Ali's hands.

"Oh," Emily said, bashfully, dropping them. Ali let out a faint giggle.

"I'll be right back," she sing-songed, turning to head up the stairs. Then she looked back over her shoulder to add: "Don't have any fun without me."

Emily nodded dumbly. As if that was even possible.

Ali shut the door behind her and smirked at her reflection in the mirror. Convincing Emily to steal her journal back from Jason was all too easy. Admittedly, she hadn't expected the initial refusal, but she was pretty proud of herself for playing the bipolar friend for a minute there. It was just what she needed to send Emily into sympathy mode. It had worked flawlessly.

It had to be Emily of course. She's the only one who'd get it and not be brave enough to look at its contents but still loyal enough to do whatever she could not to let Ali down.

Ali looked at her reflection again and gave herself a congratulatory smile. Was there any problem she couldn't fix? Not only fix, of course. No, Jason wouldn't get off _that _easy. Her head was already abuzz with possible vengeful plots.

Just then, her cell phone vibrated. she pulled it out, a little disappointed to be torn away from her devious work. When she saw who it was, her heart leapt, propelled purely be naivety though. A few seconds later, she brought herself back to reality and her heart sank and her mind sizzled with anger.

"What the hell do you want?" She pounded into the keypad. A few seconds later, she got a reply.

"I think we need to talk"

She laughed to herself, sourly. She really just shouldn't reply. But, curiosity nagged at her and she gave in.

"About what?" A response soon followed:

"Please meet me at the house."

Ali felt her face twist into a scowl. She wanted to scream at the phone.

"Screw you." She typed back, hoping that that message would be the last between them.

She looked back into the mirror. Where had that content, confident face gone to? All that was left was a dark frown and a reddened complexion.

She was startled when her phone vibrated once again against the marble top sink. She gripped it so tightly she thought it may shatter and opened the latest message.

"8:00. I'll be waiting"

"Well, you'll be waiting forever," she said aloud to herself, shutting the phone without responding. There was no way she was going. No way at all would she go. No. And that, was that.


	14. That Damn Blue Pen

Blue ink. It was written in blue ink. And he had had a blue pen. A blue pen which most likely wrote in blue ink.

This striking revelation soared into Alison's mind that very day of the letter exchange, around lunchtime as she skimmed through her love notes.

All of them had been written sloppily, almost carelessly, and in pencil. All, that is, except for one which had been written in blue ink. From a blue pen. A blue pen that she had happened to see Lucas putting a cap on just hours before.

She shook her head. "I'm Alison, for God Sakes" she kept repeating to herself in her head, trying to prove just why the note shouldn't hold any worthiness for her. But for some reason, reading every line of the considerably cheesy note made her heart ache. What the hell was going on?

She had long since thrown away the other letters she had gotten, disgusted at how unbearably dull they had been, commenting simply on, what Noel liked to call her "Bang Factor" in other words, her sex appeal.

Lucas's was simple, but in a different, fascinating way. A way she hadn't had much experience in comprehending.

Before she knew it, her blissful thinking ceased as a crowd of "fellow populars" sat down at her table. since she was there, it was of course already deemed the "it" table, so anyone who mattered fought to get a seat near her. This was long before the days of Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily.

She stuffed the letter into her pocket and immediately went back to being herself, gossiping with her classmates about who had the best shoes and the best hair and what the weekend plans were. Noel squeezed himself into a position directly across from her.

"So guys," he said with a grin, calling attention to himself from all angles of the table, "did you hear what this sneaky one did today?" He gestured to Ali with his eyes and a raised eyebrow.

Alison responded good-naturedly, rolling her eyes jokingly and responding, "oh Noel, shut up, will you?"

"What she do?" asked Mason, sitting next to Noel. Their conversation continued for a few beats, excluding Ali other than the occasional glance her way.

She sort of zoned out, their words becoming muffled in her head, almost like it was playing in slow motion.

Then, she found herself shooting a glance slightly to the right at someone who just took a seat at a lonely table, fidgeting with a text book in one hand and a tray of nasty cafeteria food in the other which to Alison, looked less edible than the tray itself.

"Still the queen, right Alison?"

Right away, her attention snapped back into place, noticing that Noel had concluded his story of the days events. It was kind of pathetic, she thought, that Noels big news of the day revolved around something she did. Then again, everyones often did.

"I'll always be the queen," Alison answered confidently, giving Noel a seductive look, one she knew made him wild. He smiled, almost shyly and nodded.

"Hell yeah!" He agreed.

"In fact," Alison said "I think round two of operation: dork heartbreak can begin right now," With that, she stood gracefully from her chair.

"What are you gonna do?" Mason asked, his voice full of anticipation, eating up every one of Ali's motions with a delicious curiosity.

"Just wait," was Ali's only response, other than a wink of her eye, as she turned in a flurry of vanilla and made her way to Lucas' table.

Lucas did a double take as she approached, but as soon as he comprehended who she was, his mouth slid agape, as if unable to be closed.

What _was _she doing? for the slightest second, she felt uneasy. what was her plan?

She figured she'd wing it, do something totally humiliating to him and then trot off with a sinister glint in her eye. Like she usually does. So why, why, why couldn't she bring herself to do it now?

"Hi Lucas," she said, her voice coming out far more flirtatiously than she had intended. He didn't seem bothered. His gaping mouth resolved into a somewhat adorable smile.

"Um, hello Alison?" He said it as if it were a question, as if he wasn't really sure if it were really happening or not.

Alison opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find any words to say. She looked at him. For the first time ever, she actually looked at him. She saw his dimples and his ruffled black hair. She saw his loosely fitting Tshirt and his tray of food sitting parallel to a text book.

but most importantly, she looked down and saw something sitting in the crease of his text book page. a pen. A blue pen.

Alison's mouth quivered, hoping words would simply effortlessly fall out, as they normally did for her, but instead she had to catch herself and bite her lip swallowing until she regained her composure.

this was her chance. She knew now that he had written that letter. Blast him! Humiliate him in front of everyone! make his face turn red with embarrassment and rub it in his dorky little face just how out of reach she was.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

What? was she ok? she glanced over her shoulder at Noel and mason and the others. Their eyes were transfixed on her but they were too far away to know what was being said.

She turned back to lucas. how embarrassing, to be tongue tied in front of a nerd like him.

"I just thought you should know," she began…but then her eye flicked back to the pen. she quickly drew her gaze up, settling that she would avoid looking that way anymore and focus on the task at hand.

"I just thought you should know, that…" once again, she was at a loss.

'Should know what?" Lucas asked, his smile turning to a frown of confusion and concern.

"You should know that red is not your color." Of course she was referring to the red t shirt he was currently wearing with the word Bazinga from the Big Bang Theory television show splattered across the front. that was a lie of course though. The red complimented his black hair almost perfectly. of course, she would prefer to see him in a shade of blue which would really pick up the blue of his eyes…What the hell was she saying? Since when did she give a crap about what he was wearing?

Alison huffed pompously and turned away from his table. Instead of returning to her own, she headed for the cafeteria doors. she couldn't bare listening to noel and mason drag on about what she did or, in her eyes, didn't do.

Instead, she turned her head back over her shoulder to meet Noels confused countenance and sent a wicked smirk his way, indicating that she had in some way poked the fire already started by the note she had written. Noel however did not notice when she turned back around to head out the cafeteria doors, how her eyes also caught a seconds glance of Lucas who had returned his attention back to his text book, chewing cutely on his pen, which, happened to be blue, by the way…

* * *

><p>"Hey, I'm glad you came."<p>

"Shut up," Alison said, continuing her beeline for the back porch of the abandoned house.

Lucas didn't seem to take any offense by the comment, and continued leaning on the decaying banister.

"So what did you want to meet me about anyway?" She said, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes. The whole three block walk to the house she had contemplated ways to appear agitated and bitter and had settled on arm crossing and eye narrowing in addition to her disdain filled voice which, she didn't actually have to put much effort into.

"I just thought we should probably talk. You know, we haven't really had a chance to do that in a while." Lucas gestured to the porch swing that hung firmly from two ropes. It almost stood out of place on the putrefying deck that had had little maintenance since the previous tenants had left it some five years ago.

When they had found the swing, of course, it was hanging delicately from thinning cords, barely able to withstand the weight of the wind. Lucas and Ali had taken it upon themselves to fix it up and clean it off so that they had a somewhat decent place to sit. But that was long, long ago. Now, Alison only wished she could set the entire property on fire.

Lucas made his way to his seat and patted beside him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're delusional if you think I'm getting up there." She huffed back, rolling her eyes and settling them on a nearby maple tree.

"Fine." Lucas responded.

There was a beat of silence before Alison spoke up.

"So you wanted to talk. Talk." She commanded.

"Alison, I'm not an idiot," Lucas immediately plunged right in, arising from his seat in an inspired haste almost as quickly as he had sat down. This took Ali somewhat by surprise and she refocused her gaze on him.

He continued: "I know you had something to do with what Mona told me. Don't think I didn't see you and your band of followers there."

"How dare you!" she practically screamed. "Whatever Mona told you, it had nothing to do with me. You can't blame me for all of your problems, Lucas!" She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Why the hell had she decided to come here?

"It's not my fault little miss Mona turned out to be as much of a freak as we'd all expected."

"Alison, stop it," Lucas said holding a hand up.

"No, Lucas. You stop it!" With each word, Alison made her way up the rotting steps until she was face to face with him on the porch.

For a moment, they stood, both in bitterness and hate and confusion.

"Mona told me," Lucas whispered, still keeping his eyes locked on Ali.

"Told you what?" she practically growled, studying every inch of his face and torn between wanting to love it and wanting to smash it to pieces.

"About Jason," he said.

Alison practically laughed out loud, but she restrained herself. What the hell was he talking about?

"What about Jason?" she snarled.

"About his parties."

"Wow, there's a newsflash. Hate to break it to you Lucas, but the whole fricken world knows about those."

Lucas continued as if she'd never interjected.

"Well you should know then. Right? About how he was hitting on younger girls there. How he practically had sex with all the girls in our class even though he's four years older?"

That was a bit of an exaggeration, yet she did admire how he was as disgusted by her brother as she was so she let him go on.

"What's your point?"

"What's my point? Come on, Alison. I know you already know."

"Know what?" she genuinely asked. Damn, she hadn't meant to sound so interested. Still, she couldn't help it.

Suddenly, Lucas backed a step away and studied her countenance like only he could to feel for if she was lying or not. Then he frowned.

"You really don't know?" he asked, literally appalled.

Alison rolled her eyes. Hadn't they already established this?

"No, Lucas. I 'really don't know,'" she mocked him. "What?"

Then, the lightbulb went off. She didn't need to hear it, it was written all over his face.

"Oh my God," she whispered, finally comprehending. Then, her face twisted into a sinister smile. This was too good to be true!

"Oh my God!" she repeated. "Mona and my brother?"

Of course, most people would be humiliated and thrown off by such news but Alison was intrigued more than ever. This was like the ultimate blackmailing jackpot. She had known all about Jason hitting on younger girls and doing…well, etc., etc., with them…that was her blackmail all along. But this? This was pure gold!

"That's what Mona told you? In the coffee shop?"

Lucas ignored her question, pretty much proving she was right. He reverted to his sheepish, Lucas ways and avoided her gaze, now seemingly ashamed of letting the cat out of the bag.

"I don't know what you're so happy about," he finally said, realizing this whole meeting was nothing but a bad idea.

"No, you wouldn't, would you?" she thought out loud.

Lucas didn't hear her though as he made his way back to the porch swing and sat down. He laid his head back and sighed loudly.

"Jason's an ass. What can I say? And Mona…well, come on," she snorted, "it's _Mona."_

"Hey, watch your mouth," Lucas shot back at her. She rolled her eyes and continued,

"My point is, I agree this is all totally F'd up. But, regardless of that, none of it has anything to do with me. So what did you exactly plan on accomplishing by inviting me here?"

Lucas peeked through his hands that had at some point clasped desperately over his face. Then, he shook his head and answered with a moan.

"Honestly? I was going to tell you to lay off."

"Lay off of what?" Alison scoffed.

"Lay off of Mona!" He looked up with a raised eyebrow and a confused look as if she was stupid for not understanding right away. "And lay off of me." He added.

"Lucas," she began, gaining fury herself. "I. Did not. Do. Anything!" she made sure to say the sentence deliberately slow and with a bitter hiss. "What? You think I told my brother to go make out with loads of girls from my school? Please." She flung a strand of hair behind her and casually leaned against a post, turning to look out over the porch. She couldn't help but notice the small plot of soil near the rotting fence. She could almost smell the daisy's they'd planted all that time ago.

"We'll add some life to this dead place." Lucas had said, scooping out some dirt with his hand.

"They'll never grow," Ali had retaliated with a smile. But she was wrong. They bloomed quickly and vibrantly and Lucas made a point of picking one and tucking it behind her ear every time they'd met up.

Of course, those flowers had long since wilted away and now that space was nothing more than a barren black splotch. She tried to convince herself she liked it better that way.

"You know that's not what I mean," Lucas said, standing and coming closer to her, breaking Ali from her daydream. "Although, I can't exactly believe you had nothing to do with her telling me."

"Listen, Lucas" she spat, returning her narrowed eyes towards him, "you should be thanking me right now. So what? Yes, I got her to tell you. But that's all I did. Got her to tell you the _truth. _Truth I didn't even know! So you're welcome."

"Oh yeah?" he said, arching his eyebrow and crossing his arms almost mockingly. "And how'd you get her to do that, huh Alison?"

Ali and him were at stalemate at this point, both of them squeezing their arms furiously over their chests and sweeping over each others eyes with daggers.

"It almost seems to me like…" Lucas began, then stopped himself. He started to grin and laughed a bit. Alison, however was not so amused.

"Almost seems like what?"

He looked at her like she had a joke written plain as day on her face. She hated it.

"It almost seems like you were…jealous."

"Jealous?" Alison snorted.

Lucas' only reply was a further arched eyebrow and a slight turn of his head, daring her to say something. She knew she had to tread cautiously. It was an accusation that had to be answered delicately. Too much of a reaction would lead to him believing she was being defensive. Playing it off too much meant essentially the same thing. Great.

Suddenly, the dilemma became null and void. The sound of a motor chugging made them both turn their ears to get a better listen. The engine shut off and they heard a car door open and slam shut. They gave each other a questioning look, the previous conversation luckily being left behind as their curiosity rose.

"Hey Ted, get the lawn mower, will ya?" a first gruffly voice swept through the air right as a second car door opened and shut.

"Yeah, yeah Paul I got it. Although I still don't see why we have to worry about lawn work now! The family don't move in for another two months!" a second voice, apparently Ted's, said over dragging footsteps.

"Because," the first voice, Paul, responded, a bit strained as if he were lifting something heavy, "they paid us. And that's good enough for me. And it oughta be good enough for you too." Right then, there was a thud against the pavement. "There," he said, brushing his hands together.

Ted sighed. "I'll take the backyard," he shoddily moaned. Then, there was the sound of mower wheels rolling loudly against the driveway and then disappearing as they hit the grass. With that, Alison and Lucas looked at each other in question of what to do.

Lucas took charge and grabbed Ali's hand, yanking her aggressively off the porch.

She froze though and pulled her arm away in a quick thrust.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, looking at him disgustedly.

"C'mon," he whispered, apparently nervous to be caught…caught doing what? Standing in an abandoned yard?

Ali rolled her eyes and turned, determinedly walking the opposite direction. So what if it wasn't even the right way to her house?

"Alison," he beckoned, but she ignored him. "C'mon! This isn't some abandoned house anymore. You heard them. Someone owns this place now. We can't just be trespassing…"

"Give me a break!" she continued on her trajectory, but he rushed beside her, whipping her around to him.

"Ali, don't be stupid."

"How am I being stupid?"

"Ummm," he pretended to think, "because there's a perfectly easy way to sneak out of here that way," he said pointing behind him, "but instead you're going this way _just _to cause problems. _Just _to make a hassle out of nothing. This is so typical Ali, isn't it?"

What was _that _suppose to mean?

"Get over me, Lucas." She demanded, walking even more purposely in her chosen direction.

"Get over you?" he asked, with a grunt. "Alison, get over yourself."

That was it. Ali turned on her heel and headed back to Lucas, a pointed finger leading the way. "Where do you get off talking to me like that you conceded, arrogant, ass hole? You were nothing before me and you are nothing now!" she paused briefly just to admire how the color drained from his face. Then she proceeded "You go ahead, Hermie. Go running back to Mona. You two deserve each other. Maybe, when you're old enough, you two can raise some freak show kids together and have a wonderful time living on the safe side of life admiring each others boring predictability."

"Where the hell did that come from?" Lucas asked, obviously shocked, his brow furrowed.

Where had that come from? It was pretty much every ounce of pent up rage Ali had gathered since she had first seen Mona and him together.

Ali breathed heavily, not knowing how to answer.

"Woah,"

Ali and Lucas both turned to see a rather rotund man in jeans and a bit too snug white T-shirt clasping one dirt covered hand to his heart and resting the other on a lawnmower handle. Ali gave him a onceover and deemed that he was in fact a Ted.

"Who the hell are you! I wasn't expecting nobody back here," he said, swiping the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead. He was already out of breath from pushing that mower a couple yards? Alison imagined he'd collapse from heat exhaustion within the hour.

"We were just leaving," Lucas spoke up. Ali turned back to him, once again pissed he was talking for her.

"You two lovebirds better stay out of here from now on. Private property now, you know?" Ted said. Alison cringed at the word "lovebirds."

"I tried to tell her," Lucas said, shrugging. "But she just can't keep away. See, this is where we first…you know…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Ted's eyebrows shot to the sky in acknowledgment and surprise.

"Right…right back here?"

Lucas smiled and nodded in response. Ali couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh hell no…" she began, but Lucas elbowed her in the side.

Ted, clearly not being the brightest bulb in the box, wiped his brow again. Gross…

"Wow. Well, uhhh…"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll do better to keep track of her." Lucas clapped his hand on Ali's shoulder. She tried to shrug it off, but he clasped it tighter.

"C'mon babe," he said, forcing her forward. The two of them swept past Ted, Ali's face contorted into anger and annoyance. "We'll find another place to…make our own." With those words, he turned back to Ted and winked, as if being men they understood the secret code while Ali, being a girl, would completely miss the message.

Ali had to admit, it was funny when she turned back and saw Ted almost swallow his own tongue in astonishment. But, not funny enough to let the scowl on her face lift.

When they made it to the street, Lucas relinquished his hold on Ali and put his hands in his pockets.

"What the hell was all of that?" Ali asked, not bothering at all to keep her voice down from any wandering ears in the neighborhood.

Lucas rolled his eyes good naturedly, shrugging his shoulders. "What? Wasn't that boring and predictable?"

Ali studied his face.

"You're unbelievable." She muttered darkly.

"You have to admit. That was pretty funny. Almost reminded me of old times."

Alison swiped her tongue over the back of her clenched teeth.

There was a breath of silence that lingered between them as their eyes met. Then Alison snapped back into reality.

"Yeah, well…" Alison began, still looking at him. She shook her head and rallied a wretched sneer to her face.

"Dream on Lucas," she huffed grimly, forcing her feet forward and leaving him behind.

"Alison," he called after her, but she didn't bother returning to him. Instead, she simply turned her head and blew him a sarcastic kiss.

"Thanks for the all the info by the way," she said scornfully, "I'm sure it'll come in handy." And with one more fake wink, she reset her sights ahead of her.

She considered adding another derisive remark just for good measure, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around a second time. Because she knew if she did, she may let it slip that the whole ordeal with Ted had reminded her of old times too. And those times were far, far behind her.


	15. The Dilaurentis Charm

**Hello again, everyone! Sorry for the delay! Once I got those email alerts that people had added my story to their favorites list though, I decided I'd write another chapter. So thank you! :)**

**Lovin the new season of PLL by the way! Hope all of you are too!**

**Please read my note at the end of this chapter after you've finished reading, and as always, thank you SO much for reading this far! You're all awesome! **

* * *

><p>Emily's heart leapt into her throat as she stood huddled in Alison's hallway. It was two days after Alison had met with her and the secret plan to steal back her diary had barricaded itself into absolutely every crevice of her mind. She got nervous just thinking about it. So, when she got the phone call today from Ali telling her to "come over ASAP," she was pretty much overwhelmed with angst.<p>

She calmed herself down slightly on the way over by reminding herself several hundred times that she would get to see Ali whom she hadn't seen in 48 hours which felt like a lifetime to her. But, what little relief those thoughts provided quickly dissipated by the time she reached Ali's door.

Alison had greeted her immediately with a mischievous smile and then hurried her inside. She briefed her quickly on her mission then sent her on her way.

"It's in his pocket," she informed her, a soft hand on either one of her shoulders, "all you have to do is get it from him."

"And how do I do that, again?" Emily asked, shivering.

"Seduce him, of course." Ali had said with a sly wink. "You're so pretty, Em," she had added, leaning her head admiringly, "Jason won't be able to help himself."

"Don't you feel like this is sort of…wrong?" Emily had asked, biting her lip. She could hear Jason's footsteps striding on the floor above.

"Yes." Alison agreed, causing Emily to look at her directly in shock. "It's so wrong," she whispered, with a seductive grin, "almost seems kind of rebellious."

Emily still stood dumbfounded, not one hundred percent convinced that she should go through with it. Sensing this, Alison leaned in as close to Emily's ear as she could and added: "You know, I always had a thing for rebels."

Alison retracted her face and smiled again at Emily who could barely hide the goose bumps that had risen from Ali's voice.

Before she knew it, here she was, standing in the hallway, preparing to knock on Jason's door. She had worn exactly what Alison had instructed her to over the phone: "something that reveals your shoulders; Jason goes crazy for that. You know, something that exenterates your inner sexiness, but keep it classy. Don't play it like you're some dumb, bimbo."

Those instructions seemed easier followed by Ali herself then by shy, gangly, Emily. Yet, she did precisely what she said, ruffling through her closet until she found a decent burgundy shirt that fell off her shoulders and a white, frilled skirt.

"Whites the color of innocence, you know," Ali had commented almost immediately after Emily had come through the door. Emily had held her breath, scared she had failed already. Just as she was about to meekly defend herself, Ali spoke up again. "It's perfect."

Emily cleared her head of everything, or at least tried to, and took an enormous breath. "You can do this," she told herself a million times, although it didn't seem to ease her trepidation at all. Still, she realized the sooner she went and did it, the sooner it would be over.

She lifted her hand and knocked on Jason's bedroom door.

"What do you want, Ali?" he called from inside, seemingly annoyed.

"It's not Ali," Em struggled to speak up, "It's Emily."

There was a moment where she thought he would ignore her, noting utter silence coming from inside the room. She was about to rush down the stairs and admit her complete failure to Alison and beg for her forgiveness. But then, she heard footsteps softly tread inside and low and behold, the door opened.

There was Jason, his dark hair falling shallowly on his forehead and his black T-shirt fitting snugly against his defined chest.

He stared at her as if she were some beggar on the street, his mouth agape and his dark eyes burrowing into her face. She didn't know what to do, or what to say, so she stood, her lips quivering slightly, trying to form some kind of a word. After a somewhat lengthy delay, he raised an eyebrow and shifted his weight.

"So, what do you want?" he initiated.

"I…" Emily began. Still, she couldn't find the words to say. She wasn't Alison! She couldn't be flirtatious and sexy!

That was just it though. Maybe that was the secret.

In a swell of confidence, Emily tried to conjure up the spirit of Alison within her. "What would Ali do?" she asked herself. She shifted so her weight fell on one leg and she placed a hand on her hip. She forced her quivering lips to be still and even managed to summon a slight grin. "Ali would take control," her mind instructed her.

She reached out her hand and lightly rested it on Jason's forearm.

"I just wanted to see you," she told him, her voice coming out even more lightly than she had hoped.

She must've done something right because Jason stood a tad taller and didn't fight to remove her hand. She went on.

"Ali fell asleep downstairs while we were watching TV," she lied, just as Ali had told her to, "and so I thought it would be the perfect time to come and introduce myself."

"Introduce yourself?" Jason mused aloud, his face conveying that he was entertained if nothing else. "But, I already know you."

"Do you?" she asked, turning her shoulder just the right amount so her shirt fell a bit more off of her shoulder. Jason definitely noticed.

"Maybe I don't know you as well as I thought," he declared, his eyes roaming all over her now.

"No. You don't." she agreed. "So like I said, I'd like to introduce myself," then, before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned in close and whispered, "Properly, I mean." Ali had taught her well. She knew exactly what it took after all to drive someone wild with craving.

Jason backed away, but not out of horror. He backed away so he could get a good, full look at her. Then, he smiled again and pushed a piece of satin hair away from his forehead.

"Is that right?" he asked.

Emily nodded.

Jason stuck his head out of the doorway and peered around, apparently looking for Ali or a hidden camera, or perhaps Ashton Kutcher preparing to jump out and tell him he had been Punk'd.

When he saw nothing, he backed into his room and opened his door wide as he did so.

"Ok, then." He said in an enchanting, slick voice.

Emily stepped inside and Jason pushed the door shut after her. A sweet fragrance suddenly engulfed her, like she just stepped into Abercrombie & Fitch.

Jason's room was almost as orderly as Alison's. His walls were painted a navy blue and he had a guitar sitting in one corner. He also had a desk with a MacBook sitting atop it, opened to his Facebook page. She couldn't help but notice his profile picture was one of him standing on the beach shirtless.

Emily turned back towards Jason and noted the outline of the journal in his back pocket, just where Ali had said it would be.

When he turned back to face her, she immediately threw her head up from his bottom and looked into his face. The amused smile that settled on his face indicated that he had seen her "checking out his ass".

But, he didn't say anything.

Emily felt her confidence begin to slowly drain from her. Being inside his room, the door closed, she felt trapped suddenly. Was she in over her head?

"So what exactly is it that you wanted to do?" he asked, standing in front of her. She pushed a strand of hair over her ear and couldn't bring herself to look in his eyes again.

"I…I mean, we could…let's just…" Damn it. Where had her inner-Alison gone?

Jason chuckled and turned his attention out the window, retreating into his own mind for a moment. She was dying to know what he was thinking.

He turned back to her.

"Let's make out." He said, pointedly, no discernable emotion on his face.

Her eyes widened and she felt a submissive, timid giggle escape her lips. The fact that she was uncomfortable was not very well disguised.

"Well…I mean….we…uh…"

Suddenly, Jason's face lightened into a wide smile and he laughed. He tucked his hands into his jean pockets and casually titled his head to one side.

"I'm just kidding," he announced.

Emily couldn't help but exhale a breath of relief, to which he again chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I know." She tried to calmly shrug but felt it come out more as an awkward shoulder twitch.

"Yeah, we should probably just skip right to the crazy, kinky sex,"

Emily froze at this line at first, but this time noted the joking tone of his voice and relaxed her tightened muscles when she saw his smile had returned. She smiled and let out a soft laugh.

She kind of liked his smile, now that she took a moment to take it in. It took over his entire face. He actually looked welcoming, not nearly as foreboding as she had forced herself to imagine.

"So," he began a few moments later, "Ali convinced you to try and get her diary back, huh?"

Just like that, her newly found contentment vanished from her countenance.

"Sorry, I'm just not that stupid," he said. Noticing the color drain from her face, he spoke up again.

"Look, I know Ali can be kind of manipulative, so I understand why you tried to do it. But, this battles between me and her, so you gotta understand why I can't just hand it over." He didn't seem angry; in fact, he seemed almost understanding…almost sweet.

"But, it's Ali's," Emily humbly voiced, desperately not wanting to give up on her mission so easily.

He looked at her for a moment as if debating between running her out of his room with a pitchfork or continuing to explain himself.

He sighed and sat down at his desk chair. He rested his arms on his knees and let his head fall.

"Look," he said after a few moments of contemplative silence, "Alison and I are…different." He looked up at Emily who was still standing. She felt strange towering over him so she hesitantly sat on the edge of his bed to face him.

"What do you mean?" she quietly asked, her mission abruptly deserting her, keenly aware of her own personal interest in Jason's words.

"I just mean that Alison does whatever it takes to get whatever she wants." Although Emily didn't like hearing the harsh words about Ali, she also couldn't deny them and she felt no argument sufficient enough to fight them.

He went on.

"I mean, what did she say to get you up here?"

Emily didn't even know how to respond if she'd wanted to. Luckily, it was a rhetorical question.

"She offers people the world, but then she rules it for them. I mean, how often has she hurt you?" His eyes implored her and she felt sympathy for Jason. For _Jason. _Ali's older, supposedly disgusting, vile and inhuman brother. But what's worse…or better…than that, was realizing that he felt sympathy for her.

"She doesn't mean to," she quietly answered.

"But she has?" He asked back.

Of course she had. Alison tortured her everyday of her life! Whether she did it knowingly or unknowingly was the question that plagued Emily's every waking thought. She knew how Ali could be. Of course she was manipulative. Of course she was cruel. But she was also smart, confident, beautiful and everything that Emily wished she could be; everything she loved about her.

She was afraid of where this conversation was going or where it may end up.

"Look, Jason, can I please just have the book. I'll never bother you again, I swear."

"_You're _not bothering me," he insisted. "Emily, don't let her bully you. Don't let her control you like that."

_Like what?_ She wondered to herself. What was he talking about? As if hearing her thought, he continued.

"I've read it, almost every page, and you should know what she says about you. You should know who she really is!"

He stood and pulled the book from his pocket. Emily felt like she was going to bust into hysterics. He opened it and began flipping through pages. She couldn't stand it. She didn't want to hear it. She couldn't _bare _to hear it.

"No, please," she begged, standing from the bed, fighting the juvenile urge to cover her ears with her hands.

"Just listen, here. Right here. _August 14," _he began reading, "_Emily and I were at the movies. I made it a point to pick a scary movie just so I could reach over to her hand and pretend to be scared. Her reactions were priceless. It's almost pathetic how much I drive her wild and I…."_

"Stop!" Emily shouted, rushing towards Jason.

He did as he was told, lowering the book from his face.

"Please, don't read anymore." She pleaded, "please!"

He swallowed and looked at her eyes. She hated how weak she was. She felt tears in her eyes. She was embarrassed, hurt and…she _was _pathetic.

"Emily, I'm…I'm sorry," he hoarsely said, shutting the book. "I didn't mean to upset you that much. I didn't realize you'd be that –"

"Pathetic?" she said, turning her gaze to the ground.

"No." he said, reaching a hand out and turning her face up to him. He paused for a moment, his dark eyes peering into her own. "I didn't realize you'd be that hurt."

She felt her tears begin to subside. She even felt disappointed when she felt his hand draw away from her chin. What was going on?

"Yeah, well, neither did I," she admitted.

"You don't deserve to be treated like that, Emily. Not by Alison. Not by anyone."

"I don't know," she scoffed with a sniffle, turning her head to the side, "maybe I do. Maybe when you're as tragic as me, you deserve to be treated like a target."

Jason gripped her shoulders and she stared up at him in surprise. His grip wasn't menacing or uncomfortable, but rather urgent yet gentle.

"No one, deserves that," he reiterated, looking at her dead on once more. Something in his eyes looked like he was longing to do something, like he was trying to hold himself back from acting on some sort of impulse…but what?

"_Especially _you." Before she could examine him any further, she felt his lips on hers. Her first reaction was to push him away, but she didn't. She realized she didn't want to. His lips were coarser than Ali's and he seemed to attack her own more furiously, as if he was trying to absorb every fraction of her lips in case he didn't get the chance to do it again. There was a sense of hunger and desire in his kiss and she couldn't help but return it. It wasn't until her mind stepped back in and reminded her of Alison and of her mission and of what she was actually doing, did she force herself to push away.

"Jason," she started, holding him away at arms length. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest through his thin shirt. For some reason, she found herself shuddering at how warm and defined his torso was. The touching clearly wasn't helping, so she removed her hand.

"Jason," she began again, "I…This isn't…We can't just…"

"I understand." He said, nodding his head.

Her heart almost sank at his immediate submission. She realized she was hoping for at least a little bit of a fight. Maybe he considered it a huge mistake to kiss her. Of course he did. And she did too…or at least that's what she tried to convince herself.

"Right." She said. There was a moment where neither of them said anything, but couldn't help but notice each others heavy breathing lingering on as a noticeable aftermath of their kiss.

Jason looked uncomfortable, a sentiment she had never seen on him before.

"You should probably go." He finally said, not able to look her directly in the face. "I'm sorry." He added. She wasn't sure if he was sorry she had to go or if he was saying sorry for kissing her.

So, she made her way to his door and opened it. Right before she stepped out into the hallway, she turned over her shoulder towards him. She expected to see him banging his head against his wall, disgusted and regretful about his decision to attack her lips, but instead, she caught hold of his own gaze looking at her. They locked eyes for a few moments, but it wasn't awkward like it may have been when she first entered the room. Instead, it was almost soothing and she couldn't help it when her heart crept up into her throat and sent a shiver down her spine.

Still, she didn't know what to say, so she shut the door behind her and prepared to find Ali and break the news of her dishonorable defeat…leaving out the fact that the enemy may have left her questioning for the first time which side she wanted to pledge allegiance to.

* * *

><p><strong>I just want you to know, I know a couple people had mentioned that the Ali-Emily scenes are their favorites, and their sort of mine too! With that being said, after you read this chapter, please don't be turned off! It's a twist in the story, for sure, but don't think it means I'm abandoning them. Trust me, Emily's not about to get over Alison that quickly ;)<strong>


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